Negligence looms over railway stations across the harbor | Mumbai news | So Good News

Mumbai: Daily commuters from Navi Mumbai are demanding better maintenance of railway stations along the harbor line – which was once known to be well-planned. For the past two months, Manish Koparkar, a member of the Navi Mumbai Pravasi Sangh, has been running between the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and Central Railway (CR) authorities demanding maintenance of stations.

The trans-harbor line connects Navi Mumbai with Thane and Mumbai and is mainly used by office users. The area houses various IT parks and industries.

“We have called the CIDCO helpline several times; met railway officials in person. For over 60 days, I have even sent reminders on the Central Railway Twitter handle, but there has been no action,” Koparkar said.

He added that the four stations which have major problems, especially leakages, are Airoli, Ghansoli, Turbhe and Nerul.

“During monsoons, due to leakage, electrical equipment like lights and fans stop working. If railways are paying CIDCO for maintenance, the former should also ensure that these repairs are done,” Koparkar said.

Earlier on July 29, the Navi Mumbai Pravasi Sangh had written to the railways regarding poor facilities, which include water leaks across various stations, choked storm water drains, poor security arrangements and non-functional electrical equipment. Koparkar also shared pictures on Twitter tagging CIDCO and railways highlighting how scrapped vehicles are being dumped in railway station parking lots and hawkers are entering the area.

Nazim Ansari, 41, who has been traveling on the line across the harbor for 12 years, said: “I travel from Thane to Kopar Khairane for work. Initially, these stations were so beautiful that they were even used for Bollywood film shoots.”

He added that during monsoons, water leakage and lack of light is a major challenge.

“CIDCO has provided only one security guard at the main entrance of Kopar Khairane station, but there are 3 exits and all these exits should have security. The stations need thorough cleaning,” Ansari said.

Stations on the trans-harbor line were noted for their well-planned design including good parking facilities, spacious entrances and shopping malls inside some of these stations.

While talking to HT, an official from CIDCO said, “Six months ago, the Managing Director (MD) of CIDCO formed a joint committee with officials of the company, railways, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Panvel Municipal Corporation headed by Joint MD of CIDCO, Mr SS Patil.”

The official added that the MD conducted various meetings and listed down the areas that need to be repaired.

CIDCO confirmed that it will be repaired in a month.

Calls, messages and emails sent to CR officials yielded no response.