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Two days after a massive fencing collapsed in Mumbai's Ghatkopar, killing 16 people and injuring over 70, the Pune Railway Division has launched a special drive to inspect fencing near stations in the division from May 15.

To prevent incidents like the one in Mumbai, the Pune division has inspected around 65 enclosures at stations in its division. Of these, 28 enclosures are in the periphery of the Pune station, and eight of them are yet to submit their structural audits, railway officials said.

“These signboards and outdoor postings belong to private agencies and the cost of auditing them will amount to more than Rs 25,000.”

“But in many cases, the process is merely on paper. The owners of these enclosures will be contacted and given about a week's time to complete the audit after verifying the agreement documents,” a railway official said.

The Pune Railway Board has earned around Rs 100 crore in revenue from the fencing panels it has installed at the Pune railway station premises in the last two years. The last structural audit of all the fencing panels was carried out in November last year, which will be valid till 2026.

However, another railway official from the divisional railway office said all the signboards were legal except those at new stations that have been merged into the Pune division. “We have warned the concerned parties to submit the audit results within a week,” he added.

The incident in Mumbai is reminiscent of one that took place in 2018, when three people were killed and several others injured when a private contractor was dismantling a fence on railway land at Shahir Amar Shaikh Chowk near Juna Bazar Chowk. Currently, four fences measuring 40×30 have been installed at Juna Bazar Chowk. The signboard has been relocated and its foundations reworked to prevent future incidents.

© Indian Express Ltd.

First uploaded on: May 17, 2024 15:18 IST

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