‘Hawker menace must be tackled, more entry & exit points need of the hour at stations’

5th Oct 2017

The hawker menace on the railway bridges and near the entry and exit points seems to be the pressing issue that has been plaguing the Thane suburban network. This observation was reportedly made by agencies involved in a joint safety audit that was conducted after surveying all suburban railway stations along the route on Tuesday morning, following instructions from railway minister Piyush Goyal last week.

A team of officials from various departments of the Central Railway, along with the railway protection force officials, government railway and city police and municipal authorities, surveyed the four stations within the Thane civic jurisdiction. The teams interacted with commuters and passenger associations and have made a note of their grievances. They also accessed the video footage of certain stations to know the crowd situation on foot overbridges (FoB), especially during during peak hours.

Hawker menace on bridges was the main problem, along with the need to construct more and wider bridges at stations like Diva and Thane. During the audit it was also found that more entry and exit points also need to be there. Several other issues like maintaining culverts and traffic management along the railway station premises was also discussed in the preliminary meeting.

''We have conducted a joint survey for the safety audit with senior officials from all agencies concerned in the development of the railway station premises and surrounding areas. We have made a note of the issues. The major one being the hawkers menace at all the stations,'' said one of the officials from the committee.

The report of the safety audit will be prepared by the Central Railway and will be table within the next few days.