Bombay High Court Reprimands Railways Over Flooded Rail Tracks Around Mumbai, Says 'Central & Western Railway Have Not Done Anything'

Mumbai, July 10: Slamming the Railways for their disrupted services during monsoon, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday said the Central and Western Railways have not taken any concrete steps to prevent the tracks from getting flooded even this year, despite knowing what consequences it would bring to the city.

The Court said railway tracks submerge under water every monsoon, paralysing the local train services in Mumbai but nothing has been done to put an end to the menace. The court also raised the issue of water-logging on tracks and noticed that nothing had been done in this regard.

"Even after so many years, suburban railway tracks are submerged in rains. Why can't you raise the height of tracks to avoid flooding", the Court said.  If the Railways were not able to manage this, it should consider privatisation, the court said. A division bench of Justices N H Patil and G S Kulkarni was hearing a public interest litigation seeking a direction to the Railways to make stations and platforms disabled-friendly.

According to reports, the bench adjourned the hearing for two weeks, asking the Railways' lawyer to tell the court next time what measures were being taken to prevent water-logging on tracks.

In the last week, the Bombay high court rapped the railways and BMC after bridge collapse at Andheri railway station. "You cannot leave people to die,” the Bombay high court (HC) told the Railways and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), expressing utter displeasure over the deadly incident.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 10, 2018 07:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).