Andheri bridge collapse: Goyal orders probe, announces Rs 1 lakh ex-gratia for injured

Mumbai, July 3: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday ordered an inquiry and announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for those injured after part of a road overbridge (ROB) collapsed at the Mumbai's Andheri West Station amid heavy rains.

"It's an unfortunate incident. I have ordered an inquiry into this. Commissioner of Rail Safety has been ordered to give a report in 15 days. Five people were injured. Ad hoc compensation of Rs 1 lakh will be given to them. Their treatment expenses will be taken care of by railways," Goyal said here.

Goyal said that during the next six months, a joint safety audit will be conducted by the railways, the BMC and IIT at the 445 road overbridges, foot overbridges and bridges over the pipelines in Mumbai as part of efforts to improve safety for the commuters.

He also said around 700 employees of the Railways, helped by some experts from Delhi and Lucknow, were working on the restoration work and the train services will be resumed completely by Tuesday night.

An ROB in Andheri area collapsed on Tuesday morning due to heavy rains, bringing to a halt the local train services and affecting some long distance trains that caused huge inconvenience to the commuters. Five people were injured, two of them seriously, in the incident that took place at around 7.30 am, the Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, taking stock of the situation, spoke to the Mumbai Commissioner of Police Subodh Jaiswal and asked him to ensure smooth traffic movement.