Not My Job

This video we have all seen. These type of things prolly happen daily at most stations in India. From the video it is difficult to tell where it happened, but it could well have been our own Yeshwantpura station, for example.

Every day thousands of people, mostly women, from Yeshwantpura, who are employed in the garment sector, risk their limbs and lives by crossing the railway tracks here to reach their work place located on the opposite side. There is a foot-over-bridge that connects Platforms 1 to 6 but they take you inside the station premises, which is a ticketed zone. Crossing the tracks is, therefore, the preferred option for these people. Mrs. Rashida Begum, whose house is near the railway tracks said, “I have seen girls tripping on the stones and falling down in their rush to cross before a train appears.” One Mr.Ramaswamy says, “I have seen major accidents, even deaths, take place during rush hour in the mornings and evenings." There is a desperate and urgent need for connecting bridge. When this issue was brought to his notice, the Divisional Railway Manager Mr. Mahesh Mangal said, “Projects bearing the welfare of people in mind is the job of the State Government. If there is a proposal from them and they are willing to bear the cost, we will execute the job for them.” There you have it, straight from the horse's mouth.

Yeshwanthpura Railway Station Earnings:

2003-2004 1952.54 lakhs

2004-2005 2461.51 lakhs

2005-2006 3240.20 lakhs

2006-2007 5069.25 lakhs

2007-2008 1433.06 lakhs (3 months upto june)

Source: Deccan Herald, epaper, August 3rd 2007.