Bullet Trains? Repair Stations First: Twitter on Elphinstone

Twitter users react to the Elphinstone tragedy.

On Friday morning, a stampede at Mumbai's Elphinstone Railway Station left 22 people dead and at least 25 injured.

Twitter users took to the micro-blogging site to voice their anger over the tragedy.

Not letting “Spirit of Mumbai” be used as an excuse for the incident, and calling the incident unfortunate and avoidable, Twitter users called into question the priorities of the government.

We don't want a #BulletTrain @narendramodi
Just repair our tracks and stations! #Elphinstone

— Preeti Sharma Menon (@PreetiSMenon) September 29, 2017

Our politics today are measured in the cost of human lives #elphinstone

— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) September 29, 2017

Scary. Tragic. Avoidable . #Elphinstone tragedy.

— Boman Irani (@bomanirani) September 29, 2017

#Elphinstone incident over next few hrs
> Mumbai blames Railways.
> Railways blame Mumbai
> Compensation announced.
> Forget/#SpiritOfMumbai

— Kabir Taneja (@KabirTaneja) September 29, 2017

Users also reacted harshly to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis’s decision to compensate the next of kin of the deceased.

And how much were you willing to spend on that statue again?

— Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) September 29, 2017

With projects such as the Shivaji statue and the recent Bullet Train tie-up with the Government of Japan in works, Twitter users were clear that they would rather the government started focusing on delivering on more fundamental necessities.

Pic 1: 2016 image of #elphinstone railway station.
Pic 2: model of Shivaji statute to be built for ₹3600cr
Priority of this govt ?? pic.twitter.com/c7PSVheddi

— அன்பு 💕 (@anbu2089) September 29, 2017

Under this BJP ruled govt , railway department became population control department . Ticket to Yamalok #Elphinstone

— Md Asif Khan (@imMAK02) September 29, 2017

I think #Elphinstone is Mumbaikers fault.
10 people die daily on tracks.
We tolerate it, without complaint.
We tolerate bloody too much!

— Preeti Sharma Menon (@PreetiSMenon) September 29, 2017

#Elphinstone happened because govt was more concerned about changing name of station to Prabhadevi station than focusing on infrastructure!

— Kshitij ❤️ (@kshtz_luv) September 29, 2017

As a Mumbaikar, I mourn for the victims & hang my head in shame today. Modernization must mean safety & security of citizens, not technology https://t.co/V5TyjIlik2

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 29, 2017