Mumbai, December 31: The Central Railways has decided to put an end to the menace of railway track crossing by deciding to extend the width of the Foot-Over-Bridge (FOB). Mumbai Gets Three New Foot Over Bridges Built By Indian Army in Elphinstone Road, Currey Road and Ambivili Railway Stations.

The current width of the FOB bridge is 2.4 metres. The width will further be increased to 4.8 metres.

The Central Railway came up with this solution considering that the people used to take the railway track routes despite the presence of the FOB as the bridge used to get overcrowded.

According to a Railway data, Vidyavihar witnesses second most number of deaths due to crossing railway tracks. 286 people were killed trying to cross the railway track January 2016 and November 2018.

On September 29, 2018, 23 people were killed in the rush hour stampede on a narrow overbridge linking Elphinstone Road and Parel suburban stations during heavy rain. Elphinstone Stampede: One Year After Tragedy, Mumbaikars Come Together to Pay Tribute to Victims.

According to details by WR Chief PRO Ravinder Bhakar, the chaos took place after a vendor shouted in Marathi "phool padla" which means flowers have fallen but people misunderstood it as "pul gir gaya" or the bridge has collapsed. He said none of the witnesses supported the claim that the chaos was caused by a short circuit on the bridge.

In July this year, the Western Railway renamed Elphinstone Road station to Prabhadevi station. The decision came into effect from the midnight of July 18, 2018. According to reports, the stampede took place around 10.40am when the overbridge was teeming with people taking shelter from a sudden downpour. Soon after, in February 2018, a new Foot Over Bridge (FOB) that was constructed by India Army was inaugurated.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 31, 2018 06:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).