Dear NL Team,

I am a subscriber (renewed recently). I look forward to the weekly Hafta for the diverse and informed views of the NL Team. While I often disagree with the team’s viewpoint, rarely have I felt that the panellists are ill-informed

Hafta 140 was, however, an exception. I respect Madhu madam’s view a lot, but on Hafta 140, I think she had a “Marie Antoinette” moment. Comparing the Elphinstone station stampede with psychology and cultural problems and insinuating that people at the station didn’t care about trampling other Mumbaikars to death was bizarre.

My instant reaction was WTF!!! Where was the empathy that was visible in previous discussions, such as over the Rohingya/refugee crisis?

We often hear that the Delhi media is cut off from the real India. I guess this was one such moment.

I am 100 per cent sure that most NL panellists have not actually travelled recently in the second class cabin of a Mumbai local. I recommend that on your next trip to Mumbai, please visit Dadar station at 6 pm in the evening and board Virar Fast. Please do that before passing any further comment on the Elphinstone tragedy.

Before comparing (our trains) with the Japanese Metro (never been there but seen videos/photos), please consider the following:

– On an average, the overcapacity in Mumbai locals is 2.6 times. That is the average. During morning hours, the traffic is southbound and in evening northbound. During the peak hours, the overcapacity can be significantly higher in certain key stations like Dadar-Tokyo rush hour overcapacity is two times.

– During peak hours, which can last up to two hours each way (morning/evening), people are packed inside coaches to such an extent that there is no space to move. Each train stops for just 15-30 seconds. The real Mumbaikar knows that to get down, one needs to start moving towards the exit one station early, otherwise the crowd coming in will not let one disembark. Local trains during peak hours don’t have the luxury to stop and wait for everyone to board or disembark. There aren’t enough tracks to allow trains to stop longer. The option to wait for the next train isn’t there for most people – many already spend 3-4 hours travelling each day and an extra 20 minutes means a lot.

– During the brief two-year period when I travelled in the luxury of first-class to Nariman Point, I developed severe wrist pain trying to hold on to the overhead bar every day. The one hour of travel was equivalent to spending one hour in the sauna and gym simultaneously (significant energy was spent on countering pressure exerted from all sides). Sometimes it was difficult to figure out whether my shirt was wet because of my sweat or of others. Can that be compared with air-conditioned travel in a metro train in Japan??

– I never stood near the open entry of the coach because inside the coach passengers are so cramped for space that pressure is often exerted to create some extra space. Imagine holding onto an inch of space at the edge of the coach, with one hand on the railing, and trying to counter the pressure of a dozen people inside. It isn’t that the people inside are trying to throw out the person standing near the entry. It’s just a chain reaction and impossible to know when a push to reach one’s pocket could lead to a person being pushed out of the moving train. On an average, 700 people die every year falling from trains and after some time, such accidents become a “regular” event. Can that be compared to the enclosed and safe Tokyo Metro?!

– Crowding at most stations during peak hours is common. And on certain days when trains are late by 5-10 minutes, there is absolute mayhem and stations are jam-packed. Yet, a stampede isn’t that common – that should be the surprise.

– Since there are limited overbridges (not at regular distances, and not on all sides), many passengers cross tracks rather than take the bridge. In the last 10 years, roughly 23,000 people have lost their lives trying to save those precious 5 minutes by crossing the tracks. It’s so common that the local media hardly report such accidents. One can point to the psychology of such people who risk their lives to save 5 minutes, but the real question is – why aren’t there bridges every 50 metres and which connect all key exit points?

At the Elphinstone station, the problem was the overbridge, not the people. Thousands were cramped in a small space that kept getting cramped further with the arrival of each train. Many people were on the bridge to avoid the rain as the station, unlike Japan, isn’t covered and protected. When people trying to get onto the bridge pushed, there was no way to assess that it would result in commuters falling over and getting trampled. And by the way, such pushing isn’t uncommon anyway. No person could have countered the force of hundreds and withstood his/her ground. And for the people who actually trampled over the others, there were only two choices – trample others or get trampled yourself.

Mumbai’s local transport is in a shambles. Passengers travelling in local trains are treated worse than animals. It is a miracle that despite so much stress and pressure, people, in general, are helpful. It is also unfortunate that the same locals continue to accept such poor treatment and haven’t gone on a mass civil disobedience movement. Maybe that is a luxury daily wage-earners don’t have.

I hope the next time the NL panel discusses such tragedies, there will be a little more empathy and some contextual understanding.

Regards,

Himanshu

PS: Some links to recent accidents in Mumbai:

Mumbai locals: World’s busiest urban rail system is also the deadliest

Mumbai Local: Two men who fell off crowded train between Mumbra and Kalwa narrate their horror

13 people die travelling on local trains in Mumbai on Sunday

Mumbai local trains turn into death trap; 268 lives lost in last 30 days

Crossing tracks led to 1,798 of 3,202 train fatalities in Mumbai in 2016