As many as 1,016 persons lost their lives in accidents on the railway tracks in the district since January 2021. The number of accidents has failed to come down despite claims of safety measures by the authorities concerned, it is reported.
The monthly average of the casualties on tracks in the past 38.5 months comes to about 26 deaths, according to sources in the Railway Police.
While 276 persons were killed in 2021, 367 and 326 lives were lost in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Another 47 persons have been killed in the period between January 1 and March 14 this year, according to sources in the GRP.
Besides the deaths, several persons got injured or maimed, said an official of the Railway Police on condition of anonymity. As the violation of safety rules comes in the form of negligence, it is claimed that lack of facilities like foot over-bridge (FOB) has also been a prominent factor.
“With very few FOBs on the 14 km long track between Badarpur border and Ballabgarh station dividing the city into two parts, hundreds of people cross the tracks daily despite the risk of accidents,” says Varun Sheokand, a resident. Majority of the accidents take place within the area between the local stations of Old Faridabad, NIT and Ballabgarh stations, it is added. With more than 200 trains passing daily, residents in both urban and rural areas are at risk as the tracks dissect a large number of residential and industrial areas,” said a member of the Faridabad Industries Association. Encroachment on public land near the tracks in the shape of illegal colonies has also led to such accidents.
“The lack of facilities like display or warning boards, coach indicators, last-minute announcements for change of platform make many persons who cross the tracks become victims of accidents,” says Vishnu Goel, a resident.
Blaming the carelessness on the part of the people, an official of the Railways Department said that taking shortcuts and use of headphones has aggravated the problem. Suicides and dumping of bodies of murder victims can also be attributed to some figures, it is reported. Besides the continuous drive to create awareness of the dangers of crossing the tracks, negligence on part of commuters had been a major factor,” said an official of GRP here.
