Rajya Sabha member Sachin Tendulkar has sanctioned Rs 2 crore from his Local Area Development fund for the renovation of railway foot overbridges in Mumbai, PTI reported on Monday. In a letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, the former cricketer said Rs 1 crore each could be allocated to the Western Railways and the Central Railways.

The Central Railways operates the Central, Harbour, Trans-Harbour and Panvel-Diva-Vasai lines of the Mumbai suburban rail service, while the Western Railways operates the Western line.

MPs can spend Rs 5 crore annually from their Member of Parliament Local Area Development funds on development projects in their constituencies.

Tendulkar wrote that he had requested the Mumbai suburban district collector to authorise the use of the funds for “immediate revamp and construction” of foot overbridges at as many “high density, single bridge stations” as required urgently.

A stampede on an overbridge at the Elphinstone Road station last month had killed 23 people. In the letter on October 16, Tendulkar said the incident was “devastating and I am moved to offer immediate support for the improvement of services for our Mumbaikars”.