Thane victims derailed again

Those injured in train mishap claim insensitive railway officials asked them to move out of Wockhardt Hospital before full recovery

Those injured in train mishap claim insensitive railway officials asked them to move out of Wockhardt Hospital before full recovery

On Friday, Anil Pawar (32), got an electric jolt that threw him out of the CST-Kalyan local that met with an
accident.

But he got another shock yesterday, when railway officials told him to leave Mulund's Wockhardt Hospital even though he's not fully recovered.

"My legs are still paining and my ribs hurt too. But I was asked to leave Wockhardt Hospital, as I do not have any superficial injuries," he said.

Yesterday, insensitive officers at the inquiry meet ledu00a0u00a0 by Commissioner of Railway Safety Sudhir Kumar even asked Pawar why he wasn't at work. "They don't know how difficult it is for me to even stand," he added.

Other victims like Pawar have also accused the railways and Wockhardt Hospital of ill treating them.

Stick No Bills: Mohan Singh Chitodiya, father of Kirpal, who fractured his legs in the Thane accident, claimed that Railway officials refused to reimburse more than Rs 50,000 of the bill amount.

Broken promise

Devendra Shinde (41), was also furious yesterday after he was told to take his injured family members home.
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Shinde's father Harischandra (71), injured a leg and son Saahil (11), hurt both legs in the accident.
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"Doctors have told me that they will be discharged today. But they haven't recovered fully.

After hearing what the railway officials had to tell me, I told them to take their Rs 10,000 back," said Shinde.
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That is the compensation the railways had announced for those with minor injuries.

"However, looking at how angry I was, they said I could keep my relatives in hospital for another day," Shinde added.

Mohan Singh Chitodiya's son, Kirpal (35), fractured his legs in the accident and received Rs 50,000 from the railways though he ran bills for bigger amounts.

"So, at the inquiry, railway officials from Thane asked me to bring them the bills in the evening, but told me later that they would not pay more than Rs 50,000," said Mohan.

Kirpal has been admitted to Mulund's Raj Hospital.

The Other Side

The officials from Wockhardt Hospital, said, "The allegations are baseless. No patient has been asked
to leave unless he is absolutely fine."

And Central Railway PRO V Chandrashekhar said, "I don't have any idea about this because I was not present at the inquiry meet.

Please talk to the divisional railway manager of Mumbai division, M C Chauhan." Chauhan, however, was not available for comment.