Walls along rail track to prevent only encroachment, not trespass

Even though the number of people killed while crossing the rail track in Delhi went up this year, the Centre has ruled out construction of boundary walls along long stretches to prevent trespass.

Till September this year, 411 people died, up from the death toll of 401 during the whole of 2011. In 2010, the fatalities were 545.

Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has categorically stated walls are built along the track only to prevent encroachment. So far 13.96 km of boundary walls have been raised along the Delhi-Palwal section at an estimated cost of Rs. 3.5-crore.

Mr. Chowdhury said regular exercises were being conducted to prevent trespassing.

Across the country, deaths due to trespassing on the track and at unmanned level crossings have claimed more than 14,000 lives annually. In the first six months of the current year, 8,412 people lost their lives.

The budget for eliminating unmanned level crossings has been slashed to just Rs. 600 crore during the current financial year and the authorities have spent just about 25 per cent of it so far.