Mumbai: On an average, 18 accidents take place in the Mumbai suburban railway section every day. And among the lives lost in these accidents, approximately four remain unidentified. In 2016, nearly 1,029 accident victims were unidentified, and in a little over three months this year, 189 bodies are lying untraced with the Government Railway Police (GRP).
The railway police are struggling for space to preserve these bodies in mortuaries at civil hospitals.
“The number of deaths has not been brought under control, and the number of unidentified bodies is also stagnant. People don’t come to claim the bodies for months, and sometimes even years. Because of the space crunch, we have to cremate the bodies within seven to eight days, but we keep a record of the complete details of the deceased available,” said a GRP official. The official said the GRP even try to keep a piece of the clothes or any jewellery found on the body at the time of the death.
The railway police have also set up a website — www.shodh.gov.in — which has all the information about accident victims. “Starting from a picture of the deceased to all the smaller details, everything is mentioned on the website. But it gets a very poor response. People don’t search on the website, and sometimes they don’t even come to check about the accidents with the railway police. As a result, the person remains missing and the body unidentified and unclaimed,” the official added. The railway police officials have raised the issue many times during routine meetings and with senior officers, but the problem continues.
The GRP also keep DNA samples of the victims who have not been identified. “There are many cases where the relatives come searching for the person, but we are not able to establish the identity of the missing person. In that case, the DNA samples are of help,” another GRP official said.
According to the GRP, the problem of such a large number of unidentified accident victims could be attributed to the large migrant population in Mumbai. Many migrants from other cities and smaller towns come to the city alone in search of employment, and as their relatives are unaware about their exact location, the family members keep searching for them but never reach the Government Railway Police.
GRP officials say they are taking efforts bring down the number of accidents on railway tracks. “We keep conducting regular drives to create awareness among passengers. The details about all the accidents reported to the railways are available on our website,” said Niket Kaushik, Commissioner of GRP.
