Blind Cities, Blind Systems

Couple of months ago, a visually challenged person, Mr. Chandrakant Sasane , 34, a post graduate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, met  with a tragic “accident” at Thane railway station while he was alighting from a suburban train. He fell off to the opposite track and a train arrived, all at once. He sustained multiple fractures on his leg. No one – the railway administration, the police or the people – came to the rescue of Chandrakant and he was left unattended for nearly two hours in spite of his repeated pleas and screams. Is this the “never dying spirit of Mumbai”? It appears that the residents of city of dreams are drowning into a quagmire of insensitivity and indifference.

It is the responsibility of the railway to ensure safety of passengers. The “accident” could have been easily avoided had railway adopted measures to build infrastructure for differently abled passengers. Do local stations have self guiding slopes, bridges and elevators?  Can a differently abled person board our trains with out other’s help? Is responsibility of escorting them entrusted with any of the railway staff? Do any of the railway announcements try to sensitize ‘normal’ persons about rendering assistance? Railway makes announcements requesting passengers regarding “looking after the kids” and “accommodating and helping them”. Does railway appeal to commuters to accommodate differently abled persons? Civil society organizations also have equal responsibility in their failure to address the pressing commuting issues of the physically challenged. Why do academicians, policy makers and passengers’ associations remain silent spectators?

It is learnt that railway is at last taking steps to prevent such cases in the future. It appears that the central railway is planning to install beepers on either side of the platform in one coach on a pilot basis. But the assumption that differently abled persons only travel in special coaches again reflects the lack of consideration and slackness of the concerned authorities. They travel on general class as well. It would make things easier if railway administration restructure the announcement procedure. It will be convenient for the new commuters who travel in Mumbai locals. This would be a genuine way of helping the physically challenged and other passengers instead of making some irrelevant cosmetic changes.