Title - Railway tracks become death traps

TRICHY: Avoidable deaths on railway tracks have scaled unprecedented heights in the Tiruchirappalli railway sub-division in the first half of this year."Since January 2012, the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Tiruchirappalli railway junction registered 36 cases of death due to trespassing, whereas the cases numbered 58 in the previous year," said P Akbar Khan, sub-inspector of railway police, Tiruchirappalli junction.According to GRP, most 'trespassing deaths' occurred owing to negligence by people, whereas suicidal deaths were only a few. Four cases of suicide were registered in the division till June 2012.When contacted, C Senthil Kumar, inspector of railway police, Tiruchirappalli station, told TOI that in Tiruchirappalli sub-division, suicidal deaths were comparatively lower than accidental deaths. "Accidents mostly take place on the tracks near slum areas in Trichy as people, unmindful of consequences, use railway tracks and meet with fatal accidents. We have identified a few places such as Manthaithidal, fort railway station and Srirangam railway station where the number of such accidents is high. Plans are afoot to conduct awareness camps to educate people on limitations of using railway tracks. We hope it will have a positive impact," he said.On the other hand, loco pilots of express trains are prone to health problems and mental agony as accidents happen in front of their very eyes. D Sachidanandam, loco-pilot for mail and express trains, Tiruchirappalli railway division, said, "We witness such accidents frequently. A few days ago too, I saw an accident in which a 75-year-old man committed suicide by jumping in front of an express train in Vaiyampatti near Trichy. Likewise, we frequently see people losing their lives while walking on the tracks, unmindful of train movement. We cannot tolerate such moments and it affects our health and balance of mind. Sometimes, the accidents occur at unmanned level crossings also."

According to railway sources, as many as 296 unmanned level crossings and 401 manned railway crossing are spread across Tiruchirappalli railway division. The railways also takes steps to convert unmanned level crossings into manned level crossings or road over bridges, but despite both the safety department of the railways and the railway protection force (RPF) continuously taking action against those violating norms, people turn a deaf ear to appeals from the administration to follow rules.