The Western Railway disclaims responsibility; Dinaz’s case dismissed as low priority

The Railway Claims Tribunal of the city is least bothered about Dinaz N. Chhapgar(56) who was injured due to one of the windows of the Reservation Centre building falling on her back. She went through a surgery to fix three fractures – one in the right shoulder, another in her vertebrae and another in her ribs. Dinaz Chhapgar had to spend over Rs. 80,000 for her treatment. In a classic case of adding insult to injury, the Western Railway informed her that her case doesn’t come under the Railway Claims Tribunal.

It might strike some as ironical that Dinaz had been to the station that day to buy tickets for a religious trip to Udwada. Remembering the unfortunate day, she told us, “I bought the tickets that day, December 16th, and as I stepped out of the Reservation Centre building at Churchgate, something heavy came crashing down on my back. I immediately lost consciousness. I was told later that it was a part of a window that was being renovated.”

Her eyes shone with tears as she recalled the pain. “I screamed at top of my voice; it was the worst moment I had ever experienced. I fell face-down and my entire weight fell on my injured side and ? there are, truly, no words that can explain the pain I went through. I was then rushed to the Parsee General Hospital by the railway authority.”

Dinaz spent a month in a wheel chair and took three more months to recover and get back to the Central Bank of India, Tardeo branch, where she holds the post of Assistant Manager. “The railway officers who visited me on the same day at the hospital gave Rs.5,000 to my brother to start the treatment. When my brother asked about rest of the amount of the compensation, he was told that it will be given later but that amount was for the time being,” she told us.

Operating her broken arm meant living with a rod in her body for the rest of her life.

“Till today I suffer from a continuous, excruciating pain in my back,” said Dinaz. “It is as if the tissues of my back bone are separating from each other and insects are crawling in and around my fractured spine. I cannot sit for a long time. That one second of mishap has changed the way I will live my life until I pass away. The compressed fractured T6 cannot be operated on to

complete recovery because of osteoporosis noted.”

When we contacted the Railway Claims Tibunal about her case, one of the officers on the condition of anonymity denied any knowledge of it.

“I can’t remember any such case,” he said. “I will search for her application and see whether it qualifies for compensation.” When asked how much time the exercise might take, he replied, “I have no idea. There are many such cases and, in fact, even more serious ones pending.”

Original article here