MUMBAI: The death of 16 commuters on one day, twice in the last two weeks, has got the Government Railway Police (GRP) anxious. The numbers may cause a ripple in the steadily declining graph in fatalities which has been recorded over the years. Officials believe that more people may have commuted due to Ganeshotsav and Eid. A massive public awareness campaign is being planned by the police around Navratri as dangerous travel is normally the biggest cause of such casualties.

A 6% decline in fatalities was recorded between January and August this year, compared to the corresponding period in 2014. “In fact, over the past nine years, accidental deaths on the railways have largely seen a decline, even when passengers have increased. But the past fortnight saw a spurt in casualties. Overcrowding could have been a reason,” said GRP commissioner Madhukar Pandey. “Infrastructural improvements will help save lives but we also want commuters to stop travelling dangerously on footboards or rooftops, and crossing tracks illegally. Around Navratri, we will bombard commuters with messages on safe travel, at cinemas, on TV, through text messages and posters in colleges,” he added.

Western Railways has identified three locations where commuters tend to hop on to railway tracks to cross over: Edges of platforms, level-crossing gates and points where slum clusters dot tracks. “We have shut down level-crossing gates on WR, except at three locations. Ramps at the edges of platforms have been demolished and green patches are being created as an impediment to cross over. Boundary walls have been constructed up to 90 km but holes keep appearing wherever many commuters have to cross over frequently. We have to keep plugging the holes. Dividers have been constructed between sets of tracks for up to 26 km to discourage commuters from hopping over,” said WR chief PRO Sharat Chandrayan.

A Central Railway analysis of accidents showed they were mainly due to track-crossing. It also found that women, children or disabled commuters rarely figured among casualties. “It’s usually able-bodied men, aged 24-36. This deals a blow to the general perception that passengers use shortcuts only because they find it tedious to climb up overbridges,” said CR chief PRO Narendra Patil.

Youngsters perform dangerous stunts almost everyday on the Harbour line . Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials have been visiting educational institutions to explain the dangers of stunts to students

GRP website helps identify mishap victims

The GRP’s website Shodh helped establish the identity of two railway mishap victims on Wednesday.

A 30-year-old man had been knocked down by a long-distance train at CST early on July 27. His body was severed and his identity could not be established. Gulshad Hussain (23) approached a branch of the GRP with a picture of her missing husband on Wednesday. His description matched with that of the CST victim. Gulshad was shown the clothes of the CST victim and confirmed that they belonged to her husband, Ghulam.

In the second case, a 35-year-old woman was knocked down at Turbhe by a Thane-Nerul local on September 14. Sampat Waghela (38) on Wednesday approached the GRP with a picture of his missing wife. Her description matched that of the Turbhe victim. Sampat was shown the body and confirmed that it belonged to his missing wife, Meena. The body was handed over to him for last rites.

