CHENNAI: SEPTEMBER 8: Three persons of a family from Odisha got crushed to death on the tracks and the other succumbing to injuries at the hospital on Wednesday. There have been 567 deaths caused by trespassing on to the tracks up to June this year in Chennai railway district, according to Government Railway Police (GRP). Another 85 deaths were recorded due to other reasons, including 13 instances of victims falling in the platform gap. Besides, 24 persons suffered injuries in railway accidents this year. Such incidents are happening because passengers and public are careless about their safety, they never take safety measures, according to the Railway police. “Every Friday, a joint effort by both RPF and GRP sees awareness campaigns, mostly targeting students and youngsters, we follow it up by observing an enforcement day on Tuesdays to fine violators.” He added that railway police regularly address students of up to 40 schools and colleges situated along the railway tracks. Mr. K K Ashraf, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Chennai said, a significant number of deaths are due to carelessness. We are intensifying efforts to increase public awareness since March 2015, he said, “As a result, there was a reduction in the number of fatalities last year compared to preceding years”, he said. Ruling out speed restrictions for trains, he said they had identified about 50 vulnerable spots as unauthorized trespassing points in Chennai. “Even as steps are being taken to seal them, there are instances of people breaking the walls. Many of them prefer to cross railway tracks despite the dangers involved”, he said. Unless people recognize the dangers themselves, it would prove difficult for the railway police, as a mere act of imposing fines does not yield substantive results, he said. ]]>
