Chennai: As many as five people were killed after being hit by speeding trains in Chennai, on Thursday. Police said that these deaths happened while the victims were crossing the railway tracks flouting rules.
At 6 am, Selvakumar G, 38, was killed after he was hit by an Express train between Saidapet and Guindy. Another man, Johnson Daniel was killed between Saidapet and Mambalam stations three hours after the first incident, at 9.40 AM. The bodies of both the men have been handed over to their families.
According to Government Railway Police (GRP) officials, the men had scaled the walls and then crossed the tracks.
While these two men could be identified using identity cards, in the other three incidents, the victims could not be identified. An unidentified 55-year-old man was run over by a long-distance train between Saidapet and Mambalam.
In another incident at Park Town and Park station, a 28-year-old male lost his life whereas a train ran down a 30-year-old man between Ambattur and Perambur on the same day.
Despite the railway police stepping up measures to prevent trespassing, the spate of accidents has not reduced, mainly because of the intrusion of phones and headphones, officials say.
All suburban stations have foot overbridges (FOBs) and some also have subways for the passage of commuters but, daily, commuters in large numbers prefer crossing the tracks than taking the pain of climbing up and down the stairs.
“For the past few years, the number of accidents in trespassing has increased due to people being fixated on phones or having in plugged earphones. There is a lack of awareness among people,” said senior divisional security commissioner for Chennai Louis Amuthan.
“Such incidents show the carelessness of people, which leads to them not being able to hear the sound of the horn from the approaching train,” he added.
He added that the Railway Protection Force would also aim at creating more awareness among the masses. “We have been requesting for escalators at the suburban railway stations from a long time so that people who are unwilling to climb FOBs can cross safely. More funds should be allocated for such facilities,” said V Rama Rao of the Traffic and Transportation Forum.
He added that a part of the safety fund should be allocated to strengthen safety at stations against trespassing. But police officers say that despite walls being constructed around stations, people find ways to scale them or break them.
It is also on the people to take their safety in their own control, he added. “Besides that, government, NGOs, and local people should form committees at each station who can participate in programmes for raising mass awareness against trespassing, the rules, the fines and the value of human lives,” he said.
Railways Act, 1989:
147. (1) If any person enters - upon -or, into any part, of a railway without lawful authority or having lawfully -entered upon, or into such part misuses or refuses to leave, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a terra which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both: Provided that in the absence of special and adequate reasons to the contrary to be mentioned in the judgment of the court, such punishment shall not be less than a fine of five hundred rupees. (2) Any person referred to in subsection (1) may be removed from the railway by any railway servant or, by, ally another person whom such railway servant may call to his aid
