Week after rescue of commuters from stranded Monorail trains, MMRDA suspends 2 staffers for ‘lapses’

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has suspended two senior officials for “lapses” after hundreds of commuters had to be rescued from two stranded Monorail trains in Mumbai a week ago amid heavy rains.

The MMRDA, which operates the Monorail services in the metropolis, also initiated a high-level inquiry into the August 19 incident, officials said on Tuesday.

As many as 582 passengers were rescued from a Monorail train stuck between Mysore Colony and Bhakti Park by deploying snorkel ladders, as the train could not be towed back. Whereas 200 passengers were evacuated from another Monorail train which was successfully towed back to the nearby Wadala station.

Although all the passengers were evacuated, the incident gave rise to several questions about their safety, said officials.

The MMRDA has suspended Manish Soni, Chief Engineer (Signal & Telecom), and Rajiv Gite, Manager (Security), following an initial review of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), an official of the authority said.

“After the MMRDA's Metropolitan Commissioner reviewed the SOPs followed during the incident last week and based on the preliminary findings that revealed lapses in operational protocols, action has been taken against the two officials,” he said.

To ensure a thorough and transparent investigation, a high-powered inquiry committee has been constituted, the official said.

“The committee will be chaired by Vikram Kumar, additional metropolitan commissioner of the MMRDA, and Prof Himanshu Bahirat of IIT Bombay. Geetha Pillai, chief transport planner at CIDCO, and Astik Pandey, joint metropolitan commissioner of the MMRDA, will be the other members of the committee,” he said.

The committee will examine all aspects of the incident and suggest corrective measures to enhance safety and reliability in monorail operations, the official said.

A day after the incident last week, the MMRDA had announced some short-term and long-term measures to ensure the safety of passengers.