Officials at the Hyderabad division of South Central Railway have started undertaking the awareness drive at railway level crossings (LC). From September 1, teams of officials have been counselling motorists and pedestrians, telling them about the importance of waiting for the train to pass before they themselves crossed the railway track.
From Thursday however, the drive went up a notch with officials catching violators and producing them in court the same day. “Since September 1, our teams have been counselling a minimum of 100 people at the LCs and have found improvement in awareness. We have found that people respond when told one-on-one that it is for their own lives that we are telling them,” said Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (Hyderabad), S. Sudhakar.
A Sales Representative in an FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) dealership here, Ramkumar was caught by surprise when he found officials stopping him just as he was attempting to bend his two-wheeler to wheel it across the railway track. He was counselled over for about 10 minutes.
“I am educated enough to understand that I am putting my life at risk. I will never attempt to cross a railway line when the gate is down,” he said. When asked for the numbers, Mr. Sudhakar said that on an average about 15 to 20 people were produced in different courts on Thursday and Friday.
They were made to pay a fine before being let off. “There are over 100 gates in Hyderabad division alone and we are making surprise visits and parking ourselves to counsel people. But I have to admit that people are smart enough to avoid crossing the tracks if they smell the presence of officials. After all, it is their lives that we are trying to save,” he said.
