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Ludhiana: No measures in place as trespassing at railway tracks go unchecked
Ludhiana railway station has a footfall of over 70,000 people daily which goes up to 100,000 during the festive season; it has not gone through any major change since its establishment during the British period
Two days after a 21-year-old engineering student died after falling on tracks while trying to board a moving train, authorities at the railway station here have not taken any measures to check the trespassing on the railway tracks.
The railway station has a footfall of over 70,000 people daily which goes up to 100,000 during the festive season. It has not gone through any major change since its establishment during the British period. It faces congestion on platforms with people standing only a few centimeters away from the tracks when the trains arrive.
A number of passengers can be seen crossing the tracks between two platforms at the station right under the nose of railway authorities, including the Railway Protection Force (RPF) which issues challans to the trespassers.
Gurmeet Singh, a passenger, said that in trains with normal coaches, massive chaos is witnessed at the station as hordes of passengers try to board and get off the train at the same time, which can become a reason for another mishap.
He said that the station lacks basic amenities, including sitting area, due to which the platforms remain loaded with passengers sitting on the floor with their luggage, leaving little room for passengers on their way to the other platform or towards their coaches.
Another passenger, Sumit Bansal said that the security personnel of the railway police should be there to maintain discipline at the platforms after the arrival and before the departure of trains.
He said that due to congestion, senior citizens and women face inconvenience in passing through the station.
A railway employee in the ticket-checking department said that trespassing at the station can be easily curtailed through vigilance and strict punishment.
The employee said the RPF officials have expressed helplessness over the industrial workers living near the railway station not heeding to the rules and crossing the tracks on a daily basis, which is also one of the reasons of such fatal accidents.
Rajnish Tripathi, senior divisional security commissioner, RPF, said that the RPF regularly issues challans to the trespassers and undertakes regular awareness campaigns to educate the passengers and people living in the areas along the railway tracks.
He said that the last two deaths on the railway tracks were tragic accidents and that people should be more careful.
On Friday, Satwinder Kaur, a first-year student of Guru Nanak Engineering College died after she slipped under the Swaraj Express at platform no 2 of the railway station. On Wednesday, a 38-year-old woman died after she fell on the tracks while getting off the Amrapali Express
