What should government learn from Elphinstone Road Incident and how it should respond?

The best the government should learn from this incident is to do a course correction and re-ordering of mass transport in all cities. Government should give highest priority to augment the broken and tattered sub-urban stations and good management practices. This should involve broadening the narrow British era foot bridges; creating canopies to shield passengers from rain; providing low level exit in rail coaches etc.  Mumbai is known for a commuting pattern from all sides towards the business district in down south. The huge population of the city needs a sound transport demand strategy and increased carrying capacity of the stations.  For addressing the immediate requirements, efforts should be made to remove physical and policy bottlenecks such as clearing pathways inside and adjoining railway stations of obstacles; installing escalators; creating multiple entry and exit points; establishing an organized feeder transport network to / from stations and bus termini.

Topics: GS-III: Disaster and Disaster Management