Death in track

Killer Mumbai locals claimed 40k lives in 10 yrs Published: Friday, Dec 23, 2011, 9:45 IST By Rajendra Aklekar | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Mumbai’s trains that ferry tens of thousands of passengers daily are indeed the killers. In a shocking revelation, nearly 40,000 people have died on city’s tracks and an equal number injured in the last 10 years. The alarming figures of deaths on track were revealed after RTI activist Chetan Kothari sought details from the Government Railway Police (GRP). The data from the GRP has revealed that on an average more than 3,500 people die on tracks every year in various mishaps like falling in gap of train, dashing to pole, crossing lines and fell down from running train. The death toll between 2002 and 2011 (Nov) has reached 36,152. The number of injured is also in the same range with about 4,000 commuters getting injured and the total number of injured is 36,688. Among the various incidents, falling from train and line crossing are the top killers, followed by dashing to railway pole and falling in gap of platforms. City activists have been fighting a battle with the railways to get ambulances and medical facilities parked at railway stations. Activist Samir Zaveri, who himself lost his two legs in a train accident, had approached the court for better medical facilities at stations forced railways to put ambulances at stations and upgrade medical facilities at stations following court orders. The railways have also set up a medical room at Dadar to give first aid to injured commuters. A transport upgrade project to improve and increase the number of trains in the city has also been launched to cut down crowds in trains.