By IANS
Mumbai : Hundreds of thousands of commuters in Mumbai Monday marked World Human Rights Day by boycotting a 25-km stretch of local train services to demand increased frequency of trains.
The unprecedented move elicited support from unexpected quarters. Former railway minister Ram Naik landed up at the Mira Road station to express solidarity with the protestors.
The move has been supported by all political parties, social and commuters’ organisations, and more than 1,000 co-operative housing societies where most of the commuters live.
Shailendra Kamble, convenor of Pravaas Adhikar Andolan Samiti that is spearheading the boycott, told IANS: “The boycott is peaceful and a complete success.”
The boycott affected a part of Western Railway’s suburban train services, covering a distance of 25 km, between Dahisar (the last suburban station on the side of Mumbai) and Virar (the last station in adjoining Thane district).
Most trains plying on this route were deserted. Kamble said that only students appearing for examinations and patients requiring medical treatment used the train services.
Commuters used other forms of transport to reach their places of work in Mumbai, the country’s financial and entertainment capital.
Commuters on the Dahisar-Virar route want a train every five minutes instead of the present 10 minutes to cope with surging crowds.
Mumbai’s perennially crowded suburban trains carry up to five million people a day, and are the city’s lifeline.
Although these train services are spread across three sections (Western Railway, Central Railway and Harbour Line), the boycott covered only Western Railway.
But lack of commuters on Western Railway trains reduced crowds by at least a fourth in the suburban trains operating in the other two sections as well.
Policemen were present in strength in all the stations where the boycott took place – Virar, Nalla Sopara, Vasai, Bhayander and Mira Road. But there was no violence.
Bhayander Railway Commuters’ Association president Deepak Jain told IANS that not only was the agitation a success, but people went out of their way to help those compelled to commute to Mumbai or other places for urgent work.
“Indian Railways earn Rs.120 million annually from Bhayander alone but there are only 15 services originating from this suburb,” Jain said.
Kamble said that of the 1,036 daily services, only 226 trains operated on the Borivli-Virar sector though the population of this area had more than tripled in the past decade.
“The overcrowding – as much as 16 to 18 commuters crammed in one square metre of standing space on this sector – leads to at least three commuters getting killed daily,” he said.
A commuter participating in the protest, Raj Shahi, said he and his friends gathered at the Mira Road station but nobody boarded the trains. Arrangements were made at all places to provide drinking water to the commuters and local hospitals were kept on stand-by to handle emergencies, he said.