Police firing at Mumbai's Nallasopara station - Video

Police fired in the air at around 10:55 am at Nallasopara station to disperse the agitated crowd. Commuters were furious following delay in train services. Watch the Times Now video on this news:



Video Courtesy: Times Now, iStream.in

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Chaos at Nalasopara railway station; Police opens fire

Today (September 1), the crowd really got violent at Nallasopara station due to the delay in local train services. So much so that the police had to open fire in the air to disperse the people! After all, commuters blocked railway tracks and disrupted services (the same commuters who were annoyed by the delay now added to the delay).

Earlier, an overhead power cable had snapped near Borivali station and then followed late arrival and departure of trains. Worst, this happened at peak hours. As a result, local trains between Borivli and Virar were running late by almost half-an-hour.

Gradually, commuters at Nalasopara station started losing patience, came on the tracks and started protesting against the railways. When cops arrived, they had to face the brunt as angry commuters started pelting stones on them. Eventually, police had to lathi-charge and open fire in the air.

I understand commuters getting furious, I would have lost my temper too in such a situation. But pelting stones??? That was totally uncalled for. Come on guys, aren’t we making things worse? Pelting stones would only result in hurting some of us and breaking window panes of the trains. And then we’ll complain about broken windows. When we expect the railways to improve (and it is trying too), we too must behave better, shouldn’t we? THINK.

By the way, Western line trains were delayed even yesterday (August 31) due to a technical snag at Bhayander station.

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Andheri local train rams into Borivli train at Mahim station

I am still in a state of disbelief as I watch the news about an Andheri local train ramming into a Borivli / Borivali train at Mahim station on Sunday, 9th August 2009. A local train to Borivli was stationary at Mahim when an Andheri bound train collided with it from behind at around 1:15 in the afternoon. Thankfully it was a Sunday and as of now there aren't any news about any major casualties.

The officials are yet to confirm the cause of the collision - whether it was a human error or technical fault. Whatever it be, Mumbai just can't afford an unfortunate incident like this.

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Dadar To Borivli / Borivali Fast Trains Timetable

Fast local trains start from Dadar to Borivli / Borivali station at 18:35 and 20:23 hours.

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When the train changes tracks, it affects the blind passengers

The other day I had another encounter with something on the Mumbai local that still gives me goosebumps. I was seated in the ladies compartment of a fast train. A blind innocent-looking man got in the compartment at Bandra and was standing near the foot board. No one told him to take the compartment for the physically challenged perhaps because the train wasn't much crowded.

Now, when a fast train to Borivali halts at Andheri station the platform mostly comes on the right hand side. And the man was rightly standing on the right hand side. I was busy playing golf on my cellphone when, after some time, the lady beside me said that it seems that the man is going to get off. As she said so, she looked on the door on the right side. And then it was all very sudden.

I noticed that the train is coming to a halt and the man is standing alone on that side. All the other females had shifted towards the door on the left as the train had changed tracks somewhere before Andheri station. All I remember are the unclear words of that female, and that there was not a single second to waste. By the time I rushed and reached to the man, he had already opened his blind stick and he was trying to feel the platform and get off...

Thank God and the female who noticed him that I could pull him just at the right time. Suddenly every single female realised what could have happened. Then all helped him get off on the platform, the one which unfortunately was on the other side for him.

Who would have thought that even a train changing tracks can be so dangerous for some. What if the man had been travelling alone? What if no one had noticed?

Few things still make me think:

• How come the females who moved to the other door didn't notice that there's a blind man trying to get off on the wrong side?
• Why did the female who noticed it didn't rush to help him?

Everything boils down to the same thing - we need to be more alert and careful while travelling, for the benefit of ourselves and our fellow passengers.

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