Open defecation is bad for individuals' and society's health. It has been responsible for spread of several diseases and in many cases, crimes against women.

But, in a rare case, open defecation helped avert a major train accident in Birbhum district of West Bengal, where three friends possibly saved many lives.

It happened in Bolapur area under Bihrbhum district, where Vishnu Tori and his friends had gone out to relieve themselves early in the morning.

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The three men noticed a 1.5-inches crack in the rail line between Bolpur and Prantik stations. It didn't take them long to understand that the crack could lead a big mishap on the rail lines and cause huge casualty.

HOW THEY SAVED MANY LIVES

After noticing the broken rail line, the three youths made sure that no train passed through that stretch until repaired.

They rushed back home to bring red towel and any other red piece of cloth so that they could signal the approaching train to stop before reaching the point of danger.

As it happened, a train running on those tracks headed towards them. It was time for them to act. They waved their towel and other clothes, whose red colour caught attention of the driver.

The driver stopped the train well before the danger zone on the track and called the railways authorities, who then fixed the rail line.

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THE FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT

Describing the incident, Vishnu Tori said, "We had come here in the morning to defecate in the area and then we saw that there was a huge crack on the rail line. We felt this can lead to a major accident and we did not know how to stop the local train that was coming."

"We went to my house and got a red towel and all things red that we could find. The train does not stop here for anything unless important so we got the towel and stopped it," Vishnu said.

He continued, "The rail officials were then called and then they saw the crack and thanked us for noticing the crack and stopping the train. We are glad we could help. "

The railway officials and the locals were extremely pleased and thankful to the young men, whose alertness prevented a major mishap on railway tracks.

But, their alertness also exposed the laxity on the part of the railways officials, who failed to inspect the track in the region.

(With Bhaskar Mukherjee in Birbhum)