[Resolved]  Central Railway — Crowded Parel Station

For patients,the going gets tough on Parel FoB

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Although Parel has undergone a massive makeover,its railway station seems to have been caught in a time-warp.There is only one foot-overbridge for Parels increasing number of passengers,inconveniencing thousands of patients who alight here during the rush hour every day.
Every morning,it is pathetic to see cancer patients holding urine bags or handicapped patients struggling to get out of the station, says Dr Armaity Dehmubed,lecturer of preventive social medicine at KEM Hospital.
Parel has the highest density of hospital beds in the city as it has four big hospitals within a radius of a few kilometres.The central government-run Tata Memorial Hospital,civic-run KEM and Wadia hospitals and ESIS-run Mahatma Gandhi Hospital.There also is the oldest eye hospital in the city,Bachaooali Eye and ENT Hospital.
This means the Parel station sees many patients getting off early morning.Last week,a young mother was in tears as she struggled to hold her 15-day-old baby en route to Wadia Hospital.The doctor ultimately had to walk ahead of the mother to make little space.
Another regular at Parel station,Kalyan resident Sanjay Ghavate,is on a mission to get an additional foot-overbridge for the station.I have got 250 signatures,written to Central Railway general manager,MP Milind Deora,MNS chief Raj Thackeray,among others, he says.His concern is the instinct among people to cross the tracks instead of waiting to climb the crowded stairway.There is a railway workshop in Parel and its employees,too,are forced to cross the tracks, he adds.
Ghavate points out to another aspect.In the last two years,the commuter traffic at Parel has shot up a great deal.Many malls and offices have come up in the Parel-Lower Parel block.Many youngsters who work here travel via Parel station.Central Railway statistics show that there has been over 30% growth in passenger traffic at Parel in the last two years, adds Ghavate.
A patient with a chronic disease who goes to KEM Hospital on a regular basis,said,As OPD registration at these hospitals is open between 8.30 am and 10.30 am,the rush of patients is highest in the morning.With a single bridge,it is a struggle even to keep standing in one place as there is such a huge crowd.
CRs chief PRO S C Mudgerikar says that the authorities are aware about the situation at the Parel station.The MMRDA had given a proposal for a skywalk.Now that the government has decided to review its skywalk policy,we are not sure about the project, he said,assuring that if need be,the CR would make a new walkway at Parel.


NO ROOM: Patients have to grapple with crowded trains,and at Parel station (above),it is difficult to negotiate their way out during peak hours