70 track-crossing deaths in Mumbai so far this year: Railway police

According to the GRP statistics, last year, out of 3,202 deaths recorded on railway premises, around 150 occurred due to track crossing

In the first five months of this year, the Government Railway Police (GRP) has recorded 897 deaths on the Mumbai suburban railway, of which, 70 deaths occurred due to illegal track crossing.

Railways had put up barricades at many places between the tracks to prevent track crossing. Nevertheless, the commuters continue to cross the tracks illegally, officials say.(HT FILE)

The deaths of four youngsters while crossing the railway tracks between Borivli and Kandivli stations on Monday has once again highlighted that gaps in the fences around railway tracks across Mumbai encourage people to cross the tracks illegally.

Purushottam Karad, deputy commissioner of police, Western Railway GRP, said that the police were not aware that several people had been crossing the tracks near the signal between the Borivli and Kandivli stations.

Karad said that since there is an absence of fence on either side of the tracks at that particular spot, many commuters, especially residents of Poisar area, jump off trains when they stop at the signal, and cross the tracks to reach home instead of spending 20 to 30 minutes by getting off on Borivli station. GRP officials said that similar to this particular spot, there are several other spots which encourage commuters to cross the tracks when the train stops instead of alighting on stations. The police will now conduct a survey of such dangerous spots.

“We have written to the Railway board to patch the fencing and the boundary walls across the city,” said Karad.

According to the GRP statistics, last year, out of 3,202 deaths recorded on railway premises, around 150 occurred due to track crossing. In the past, GRP had conducted many awareness campaigns and programs regarding illegal track crossings.

“We have deployed police personnel to penalise commuters for trespassing near the stations but were unaware of spots such as Poisar where illegal entry and exit points exist,” said Karad.

“We had taken several initiatives to stop people from crossing the tracks. Railways had put up barricades at many places between the tracks to prevent track crossing. Nevertheless, the commuters continue to cross the tracks illegally,” said Niket Kaushik, police commissioner (GRP).