In the wake of Thursday’s horrific train accident, Railway authorities have claimed that there has actually been better policing and increased awareness among the public, which has helped bring down the number of deaths caused on the tracks in 2016.
The number of deaths reported due to trespass, suicide, and falling down in railway property has come down by 123. This year the total number of deaths was 1,297 against 1,410 last year.
A senior official of the Government Railway Police (GRP) said though no study has been carried to find the reasons for the down trend, better coordination with officials of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) by reaching out to the commuters through organising awareness camps and strictly enforcing rules to prevent crossing of railway tracks have brought down the death rate. The senior official also acknowledged the better civic sense of the commuters in avoiding crossing of railway tracks helped the reduction of accidents.
The figure shows reduction in deaths in several important railway stations in the city, including Egmore, Korukkupet, Perambur and Avadi. In Korukkupet the number of deaths has come down to 91 persons this year from 116 in 2015. Similarly in Egmore the total number of deaths has seen a dip from 92 (2015) to 75 (2016) and in Avadi from 84 to 61.
The GRP official said in Korukkupet, where awareness was poor, a strategy of joint patrolling with RPF was worked out and as part of this a watch tower was also built to keep round-the-clock watch to prevent petty offences and crossing of railway track. These steps helped in not only bringing down crime rates but also deaths in the Korukkupet limit.
However, the GRP should be concerned about spike in the death rates in a few important railway stations in south Chennai. In the Tambaram limit the number of deaths recorded was 132 in 2016 against 106 the previous year.
