BATHINDA: In the 61 lives tragically cut short on October 19 by a train that mowed them down while they were celebrating Dussehra on the railway tracks near Amritsar lay a lesson that has still not been learned.

On Tuesday evening, less than a month later, hundreds of devotees thronged the railway tracks in Bathinda to take part in " Chhath Puja" rituals along the Sirhind Canal. The worshippers - most of them women - ignored advice from the railway authorities and police to move away from the tracks over which at least a dozen trains pass every day, preferring instead to risk their lives to pray to the sun god.

In view of the rush of devotees at the railway tracks on Tuesday, security arrangements were stepped up in the area to tackle the situation. At least a dozen trains move on the Bathinda-Malout rail section where the people had assembled. However, no train passed on Tuesday while the worshippers were moving about on the tracks.

Bathinda GRP SHO Harjinder Singh said they tried their best to persuade the devotees not to venture near the tracks but they didn't listen. "We had to make elaborate security arrangements at the spot. Railway authorities were directed to instruct loco-pilots to slow down trains while crossing that area," Singh said.

Expressing concern, a railway official said, "People need to learn lessons from tragedies and not put their lives at risk."

