RailEnquiry

It is victory for commuters and residents as authorities have started demolishing parts of a mall abutting platform number 1 at the Vikhroli station that had been blocking easy access to the station.The razing of these structures would improve public access to the station and help the railways widen the existing foot overbridge. DNA had carried a number of stories on the commuter protest at Vikhroli and their subsequent fight with authorities to get a foot overbridge built. After the railways refused to extend the access of the bridge on the road in the west side, residents then fought with the encroachers.On Tuesday, a JCB machine and demolition workers were seen clearing debris of the demolished structures.The Supreme Court had in April upheld the Bombay High Court order directing the Mumbai police commissioner and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to clear all illegal encroachments on either side of the station.The Central Railway services had come to a complete halt for more than three hours in November after a mob of commuters, residents and NGO activists staged a rail roko following the death of three persons in different train accidents near Vikhroli station in November 2010.Following the death of commuters and the subsequent public outcry, the railways had promised that work on the new foot overbridge (FOB) towards the CST-end of the Vikhroli station would begin by January 2011 and scheduled to be completed by May 2011.The cost of the project was Rs2 crore. The bridge was completed a year ago in June 2011.Constructed to assist commuters and pedestrians crossing over at the level crossing gate, the bridge has been built at the south end of the station and lands on platform number 1 in the west and on the station road in the east.“There is now space behind the platform as the encroachments have been demolished. The railways should immediately take possession oftheir land and improvethe platform width and the landing of the bridge,’’ a commuter said.