Elphinstone Road issue should have got more attention in 2014: Aaditya

Mumbai, Oct 31 (PTI) In a dig at the Centre over its decision to get the Army to build a new foot overbridge at Elphinstone road railway station, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray today said he wished

Mumbai, Oct 31 (PTI) In a dig at the Centre over its decision to get the Army to build a new foot overbridge at Elphinstone road railway station, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray today said he wished the suburban station had got more attention when the Shiv Sena raised the issue of large scale neglect of infrastructure in 2014.

Thackeray’s remarks came on a day when Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal visited the station, where a deadly stampede took place last month, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the Army will help build a new FOB by January 31.

“Visit of Ministers is good bt I wish Elphinstone had got same attn when 2 MPs, 1 MLA, 1 Frmr Mayor wrote/ spoke since 2014 about the same,” Aaditya Thackeray tweeted.

He said he saw some tweets regarding the Army building the FOB at the railway station and questions being raised as why did the Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) not undertaking the building work.

“Would like to put the record straight.. I won’t comment on whether army should/not do this work. But the Elphinstone FoB is with Railways. BMC has never been asked by Rail to do it,” he said.

“Without formal permissions, the BMC cannot get onto railways jurisdiction as the BMC can only do it once allowed and given requirements,” he said in another tweet.

23 people were killed in a stampede on the staircase of the crowded FOB connecting suburban Elphinstone Road and Parel railway stations and many were injured.

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.