The Indian Army has been tasked with reconstructing a foot overbridge at Elphinstone Road station, after 23 people died in a stampede on the bridge on September 29. Two other bridges will be also be rebuilt, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. The new Elphinstone overbridge will be completed by January 31.

Goyal visited the train station on Tuesday along with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “Army has come and inspected and assessed where the bridge is going to be built, they will be there at every stage of the work,” Sitharaman said. “Probably first time asked Army to come in to build what could otherwise be called civil work, but Elphinstone tragedy was so big.”

On October 11, railway authorities said in a report that rain and panic had led to the stampede on the foot overbridge. “No one can be held responsible for the incident,” Western Railways Chief Public Relations Officer Ravinder Bhaker had said. Experts had long warned that the congestion at Elphinstone Road station and nearby Parel station, to which it is linked by a narrow bridge, was a disaster in the making.