Rs 50 cr to curb deaths on tracks ……Ashley DMello & Prafulla Marpakwar
Mumbai: The city could see a huge drop in the number of fatalities caused by trespassing along suburban railway tracks, with the railways set to introduce several safety measures as part of the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) II.
Rs 50 crore is slated to be spent on curtailing fatalities caused by crossing railway tracks in the suburban sector. Measures would include erecting warning signboards, painting tracks to help people judge the speed of trains and calling for motormen to horn twice while approaching risky stretches.
Managing director of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), P C Sehgal, said the innovative safety measures have been experimentally tried at Wadala. Sehgal spoke to TOI soon after the World Bank on Friday signed an agreement with the government of Maharashtra to loan US $430 million (approximately Rs 1,935 crore) for MUTP II, which would involve the upgradation of railway services and laying of new tracks in the region.
The safety issue came up after the signing of the agreement and World Bank officer-in-charge of transport for Mumbai, Hubert Nove Josserand, said the organisation is keen on improving safety in Mumbais transport systems.
Principal secretary, urban development, T Benjamin said serious measures would be undertaken to reduce railway accidents.
Divisional railway manager of Central Railway, M C Chavan, explained to state chief secretary J P Dange, senior World Bank officials, railway board officials and central government officials the methods being employed at Wadala station to save trespassers from becoming victims on the tracks.
Chavan said, Over 1,100 people die every year due to unauthorised crossing of railway tracks. The railways have been making an effort to curtail this by constructing foot-over-bridges at authorised entry and exit points and also deploying security personnel to prevent people from trespassing on to tracks. However, trespassing has continued.
Central Railway, then, along with a behaviour architecture firm, Final Mile Consulting, conducted an experiment at Wadala to see how deaths due to trespassing could be reduced.
After the experiment at Wadala, statistics showed that the railways successfully reduced the number of deaths. Similar measures were then adopted at seven other locations in the rail network of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. They included Kurla station, Ghatkopar station, the Ghatkopar-Vikhroli rail section, the Kurla-Sion section, Diva-Mumbra section, Dombivili-Diva section and Thakurli station.
Giving statistics, Chavan said that from January to June 2009 there were 18 deaths at Wadala. From June to December 2009 there were 23 deaths at Wadala. However, in the six months from December 22, 2009 onwards, after the new safety methods were implemented, there were only nine deaths at Wadala.
Chavan said the trespasser now thinks for a few more seconds before crossing the tracks, which heightens safety. After implementation, the monthly average of fatalities has been reduced by over 50%, he said.
Chavan said that all through last year, the majority of deaths occurred due to carelessness in the daytime and overconfidence while crossing tracks. The safety measures have made people more cautious while crossing tracks, which has reduced the number of deaths in the daytime. We are now trying to modify the plan to make it effective at night, he said.