RailEnquiry

A Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporator, Deepak Pawar elected from Malad, has moved a notice of motion, seeking modernisation of cabins for motormen of local trains to avert rail accidents.

A notice of motion is moved to call the attention of the house to a certain issue that needs to be taken up for discussion. However, Pawar’s notice of motion has raised eyebrows as the civic house deals only with local issues, not with matters related to the railways which is a subject of the union government.

The motion reads: “Technical snags cause trouble to Mumbai commuters. Hence, to tackle such problems, it is required to set up modern disaster-tackling mechanism inside a motorman’s cabin”.

Civic officials expressed surprise at how this was allowed to be taken up for discussion at monthly general body meeting. “I wonder why the corporator forwarded the notice. What can the civic body do about modernising cabins of motormen?” said a senior civic official. “What needs to be looked into is how the suggestion came to be listed in the agenda in the first place? The mayor, who is generally kept in the loop, should not have entertained it.”

The corporator, however, justified his move. “Many Mumbaikars take local trains daily. It is a matter of their safety. If approved, it will be forwarded to the state and then to the Centre. If the house wishes, it can shoot the proposal down,” said Pawar.

The mayor said that the motion was listed in the agenda without his knowledge. Asked if he had not been briefed about it by the municipal secretary’s office, Prabhu said, “The department often keeps me posted about issues on the agenda. If the motion is not in line with rules, we’ll reject it,” he said.