It turns out that trespassing and squatting along railway tracks has resulted in over a thousand people being injured and/or killed by suburban trains every year. Faced with this statistic, the Southern Railway has come out with an action plan for enhancing public safety on the tracks.
At a brainstorming session held on April 28 to elicit the opinion of various stakeholders, it was found out that non-availability of toilets in suburban areas was one of the major reasons for accidents.
Presence of slums and encroachments, broken boundary walls, poor lighting in subway and foot-over-bridges (FOBs) poor condition of pedestrian subways, using mobile phones while crossing the tracks have contributed to public trespassing of railway tracks. The participants in the meeting urged the Railways to take steps to avert open defecation and strong action against trespassers. The Railways has already identified 25 run-over-prone locations.
“Based on the interaction, we have prepared short, medium and long-term plans to tackle the situation. The short-term action plan has been made for May-July and the next short term plan will be made for August-October. The long term plan will require Rs. 50.75 crore and we are prepared to sanction the amount,” Ashok K. Agarwal, General Manager, Southern Railway told The Hindu.
He said the Railways had a discussion with the Principal Secretary of the Chennai Corporation for construction of toilets so that open defecation on tracks could be reduced. “The Railways will provide land where temporary toilets can be constructed,” he said.
Another proposal is rehabilitation of encroachers and the engineering department has already carried out a survey on encroachments. “The matter has been discussed with the Chennai Corporation and a joint effort will make rehabilitation successful,” Mr. Agarwal said.
As breaches in boundary walls are used by people to cross the tracks, they have been repaired at most locations. Railway Police Personnel will impose fines on people found crossing the tracks.
Based on the complaints from residents that miscreants were using old derelict Railway quarters, all the condemned buildings have been demolished. In some places, it has been decided to erect compound walls cordoning the tracks.
Claiming that there was a marked reduction of accidents and deaths in the months of May and June, Mr. Agarwal said it was 25 per cent less than the figure for the corresponding period last year.
“We will get a more realistic picture after two or three months. Our aim is to keep walking in that direction and reduce the number of accidents substantially. We are also creating awareness by involving students and organising street plays,” he said.
Short term plan:
A list of 25 accident prone spots identified |
Breaches in boundary walls repaired, strengthened |
Fencing done at locations wherever necessary |
Warning boards located to caution commuters |
Lighting around identified locations, checked, repaired; Survey done by electrical staff, RPF to improve illumination |
RPF, GRP working to control vandalism |
Drive launched to make toilets functional in all suburban stations |
Survey done to ensure all subways are in order for use by cyclists, pedestrians |
Issue of making public toilets for families living in slums along tracks discussed with Chennai Corporation |
Medium term plans:
Provision of pedestrians subways at Ambattur, Nemilichery, VOC Nagar, Perambur Loco Works, St. Thomas Mount |
New FOBs at Annanur, Kathivakkam |
Extension of FOBs at Hindu College, Egattur, Puliamangalam |
Widening of FOBs at Mambalam, Egmore |
