The general compartment of a Kalyan-CST local train became a makeshift delivery room on Wednesday afternoon, after a 30-year-old pregnant woman delivered a baby
boy at Kalyan railway station.
Anita Shah, a resident of Bhiwandi, boarded the 2.23 pm local from Kalyan along with her husband Sushil, a tattoo maker and two daughters Kiran (10) and Kajal (7). As the train gained momentum to leave Kalyan station, Anita went into labour pain and started crying for help.
Fellow commuters immediately pulled the alarm chain to stop the train, even as women passengers hurdled around to help ease her delivery.
Recalling the events, home guard Jayshree Bhagwan Suryavanshi, who was stationed at the Kalyan railway station, said, “By the time we entered the general compartment, the woman had already delivered a baby,” said Ms Suryavanshi.
The officer, along with two other female home guard officers Sunita Krishnan
and Sujata More, rushed Anita and the newborn baby to the nearby Rukmini Hospital.
“The mother and son were admitted to the hospital in the nick of time. We bought new clothes for the baby and mother. The duo was then taken to Sion Hospital for further treatment,” added Ms Suryavanshi.
The home guard said that the family is poor and that Sushil, the sole breadwinner of the family, made a living by drawing tattoos. “The woman was brave and was happy as she delivered her first son. There was an air of happiness both at the railway station and the hospital,” said Ms Suryavanshi.
A.K. Singh, public relations officer, Central Railway, said, “There have been such cases in the past.
In such emergency situations, the railway staff sees to it that the woman is admitted to the nearest hospital.”
On May 25, Sheetal Singh gave birth to a baby girl in the luggage compartment of the local train as soon as the train left Mira Road railway station.
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1 injured in 3rd incident of tree-fall
Age Correspondent
Mumbai
Aug. 10: A 23-year-old woman was injured after a branch of a peepal tree collapsed onto a taxi in which she was travelling on Wednesday morning.
This is the third such incident of injury or death due to a tree falling during the last month, in which Sanchita Vahi sustained injuries to her shoulder and hand. The incident occurred at around 10 am near the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) opposite the Cama and Albless Hospital.
A branch of a peepal tree fell on the rear portion of the taxi that Ms Vahi was travelling in.
“She was immediately rushed to the nearby GT Hospital, but her injuries were minor and she was discharged after treatment,” a civic official said.
On two earlier occasions of tree falling, two people – a woman and her six-month-old daughter – died after a banyan tree collapsed on them near the Inox Theatre in Nariman Point, while in the other, five people, including two children, were injured after a tree collapsed on a chawl in the Antop Hill area in July.