Cattle-class commute.
The headline, Cattle-class commute (DNA, 17/2/2014) sums up the travel agony of the poor and the middle class in the commercial, banking and financial capital of the country. Over-crowding and ten deaths on the track/platform ever day is normal for the few decades. Nobody takes any responsibility – not the railways, not the city fathers, not the state government, nor even the Members of the Parliament who have say in the Railway Budget. Public transport is one of the most important responsibility of any government. The best way to improve the situation is to have a Transport Authority for the city mandated to coordinate and plan all public transport in the city – train, bus, taxi, and now, metro. The Authority can raise funds through bonds from the citizens of Mumbai, especially from the corporates and the financial institutions. There is also an urgent need to disperse corporate offices and commercial centres all over the city to reduce travel by the staff of various establishments through incentives. The Rail Pravasi Sangh should prepare a memorandum on this issue and make it a part of the agenda of all political parties contesting in the coming general election.
February 17,2014.
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