World Bank takes a step towards curbing trespassing on tracks….Prashant Rangnekar
City Anchor – Asks mumbai rail vikas corporation to conduct study: JJ School of arts assigned task
City Anchor – Asks mumbai rail vikas corporation to conduct study: JJ School of arts assigned task
Alarmed by the growing number of deaths due to trespassing on railway tracks along the Mumbai suburban section, the World Bank has asked the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) to conduct a study of the problem.
The corporation has roped in students of the JJ School of Arts to conduct the study, which will cover five stations each on the Central Railway (CR) and
Western Railway (WR). However, a decision on the stations where the survey will be conducted is pending.
When we look at trespassing, only the conventional reasons and ways to avert them come to mind. For years, the railways have been using conventional methods to avoid trespassing like construction of a wall along the tracks and arresting people. But there is more to it, said a senior MRVC official.
Even the conventional methods may not be feasible, for example construction of a wall along the tracks. But is that feasible at places where it is not required? This would amount to wastage of public money, he said. The official said there could be various reasons for trespassing, such as some architectural defect at the station. People could be preferring a ramp rather than climbing stairs. This is one of the instances we are expecting from the survey.
More than 3,710 people died and over 4,123 were injured on tracks in 2010 and a majority of these cases were due to trespassing. The railways administration has been taking steps to avert trespassing, but the figures continue to rise.
Sources also pointed out that MRVC had initially approached IIT-Bombay, but it declined to take up the assignment. The next agency was the JJ School of Arts. They had earlier conducted a similar study on trespassing in the city and are experienced about the topic. They made a presentation before being asked to conduct the study, the official added.