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Over 18 cattle run-overs take place daily in North Central Railway area on average: Data
Between 2019 and 2022, a total of 27,405 incidents took place in the division, affecting the movement of 6,958 trains.
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PRAYAGRAJ Incidents of cattle run-overs continue to rise despite wide-ranging efforts from railway officials. Records show that in the North Central Railway (NCR) area itself, over 18 incidents of cattle run-overs take place every day on average.
Between 2019 and 2022, a total of 27,405 incidents took place in the division, affecting the movement of 6,958 trains. Data shows that a total of 6,832 incidents of cattle run-overs took place in 2022, 7,586 in 2021, 5,497 in 2020, and 7,480 incidents in 2019, said NCR officials.
Be it Delhi-Howrah or Delhi-Mumbai routes, incidents of cattle being hit by trains are being reported daily despite several awareness drives being carried out by the railways along the entire route, the NCR area in particular. It is worth mentioning that in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, the highest speed of trains on both these busy routes is to be increased to 160 km/hour and 50% of the area of these routes falls under NCR.
Among the three divisions of NCR -- including Prayagraj, Jhansi and Agra -- it is the Prayagraj division that has reported the most cases of cattle run-overs with 4,142 incidents being reported just between January 2022 to December 2022, as per records.
When asked on the issue, chief public relations officer (CPRO) of NCR, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, said that constant efforts are being made to sensitise cattle owners on the danger that these animals pose to trains and train passengers along with ways in which they can safeguard their cattle and also prevent incidents of cattle run-overs. “Other measures being taken include -- construction of boundary walls as well as metal beam fences along the rail tracks to prevent stray cattle from reaching the tracks,” he said.
The railways has now initiated the construction of metal beam fencing for curbing incidents of cattle run-overs in various sections. The metal barrier fencing comprises guard rails made of metal. The fencing is very robust as it consists of two W-beams. A W-beam type stands for broad flanges, which are thicker, that aid in resisting bend stress. Such fencing is used along highways and expressways, especially accident-prone areas to protect vehicle-owners and pedestrians.
