Chennai: More than 8,700 people were mowed down on railway tracks in 2020 even though passenger train services were severely curtailed due to the lockdown.
According to officials, many of the victims were migrant workers. In its reply to a question by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur under the Right to Information Act, the Railway Board shared the data on such deaths for the period between January and December 2020.
According to the Board, “based on the information received from the State Police, 805 people suffered injuries and 8,733 people died on the railway track between January 2020 and December 2020.”
Meanwhile, Railway Spokesperson DJ Narain said that such incidents happen on the tracks ‘not due to accidents but because of trespassing’.
“It’s a civic issue of concern. The Railways has always made huge efforts in sensitising trespassers to avoid walking on tracks. Around 70,000 kms of rail tracks are spread across the country with over 17,000 trains of all kinds running on a daily basis. Deaths on tracks of trespassers is unfortunate and sad. Our concern on Safety of passenger and citizens is second to none.”
He also requested people to avoid taking shortcuts to cross tracks. “They must understand that shortcuts can be dangerous and trespassing must be avoided. These kinds of accidents perhaps occur more on roads due to careless road-crossings,” Narain said and added that there have been no casualties due to any ‘train accident’ in the last two years.
As per Railways figures, compiled from state governments, 56,271 people died and 5,938 were injured in such incidents between 2016 and 2019, registering an increasing trend, with 2017 being an exception.
As many 14,032 people died in such accidents in 2016, 12,838 in 2017, 14,197 in 2018 and 15,204 in 2019, the figures showed.
The Railways has carried out massive campaigns to reduce such deaths and also paid ex gratia to the kin of the victim on sympathetic grounds in some cases.