Title - Western Railway begins crackdown on hawkers, promises to fix roads at Elphinstone

Commuters at the station in the west have been complaining of a bad approach-road littered with garbage and debris. The road has been taken up by hawkers completely, leaving no space for commuters to walk.


With dna taking up the complaint of railway commuters at Elphinstone Road station, Western Railways Mumbai divisional railway manager Shailendra Kumar on Monday afternoon cracked down on hawkers outside the station and promised action to improve the clogged approach-road to the station.

Commuters at the station in the west have been complaining of a bad approach-road littered with garbage and debris. The road has been taken up by hawkers completely, leaving no space for commuters to walk. The area outside Parel station in the east has been paved up by Central Railway and a proper walkway built there.

"There is utter chaos outside Elphinstone station with debris lying there, with the garbage bin open, with an uneven road, and slums and illegal stalls set up inside the railway premises. I had complained to everybody, but no action is ever taken. Even the space reserved for ambulance(s) has been encroached upon," Sanjay P Ghavate, a regular commuter said.

When dna had complained about hawkers to the senior divisional commissioner of Railway Protection Force a few months ago, hawkers from the bridge had come down to dna office requesting to get the complaint withdrawn.

With more and more offices setting up here, the crowd during peak hours has increased and commuters have to jostle for space while making their way out of the station through this stretch.

WR Mumbai's divisional manager Shailendra Kumar promised to improve the situation and began a crackdown on Monday afternoon with removal of hawkers and encroachers.