Mumbai: In a shocking incident 23 people were killed in a stampede at the Elphinstone railway station in Mumbai. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, president Raj Thackeray warned that until the structure of the local railway was made better, “even one brick will not be allowed to keep for the bullet train in Mumbai.
I will not even allow to put a single brick for the bullet train project, first solve all the basic problems of the passengers of Mumbai, if PM, Modi wants, then he should build it in Gujarat, if they use force, then We will also get even an agitated “said one Thackeray.
Attacking the ruling BJP, he called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “falsehood”, who changed all his statements before and after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “We have never seen any Prime Minister who is such a big a liar, he made big promises and dismissed him as ‘election (jumlas)’. In this fashion how much a person can lie”, Thackeray asked.
The MNS chief claimed that Piyush Goyal, instead of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, had to push through the bullet train project. “This Goyal is useless, Prabhu was good,” he said.
“Why do we need terrorists or enemies like Pakistan? It seems that our own railway is enough to kill people,” said the 49-year-old Thackeray.
He also claimed that the crowd of migrants in Mumbai will remain until a crowd of migrants coming to the city falls. He said, “due to the migratory devastation from other area’s infrastructure has collapsed”.
The Thackeray claimed that his party had written to the authorities to create a new bridge at the stampede position, but no action was taken on his suggestion. The Kakodkar committee had proposed the expenditure of rupees 1 lakh crore for improvement in railway infrastructure, but no one worked on it.
The MNS chief also announced that he will personally lead the Front at Churchgate on October 5 to protest against the bullet train scheme and requested all the participants to participate in a large number.
The MNS chief also announced that he would personally lead a protest (Morcha) to Churchgate on October 5 to oppose the bullet train plans and urged all Mumbai people to participate in large numbers.
The stampede occurred at 10.30 am on the small bridge between Elphinstone Road and Parel Station, which is one of the busiest areas of Mumbai. Witnesses say that at the same time four trains were rolled up and a large crowd was thrown into the bridge which was already bursting with people who were sheltering from heavy rains. Some passengers slipped, and people fell on them.
Thousands of travelers use two stations and bridges everyday because many officers are in this area.
