I landed in jail for crossing tracks
Starting today this newspaper launches a campaign against crossing tracks which kills over 3,000 Mumbaikars every year. We kick off with the story of medical representative Raju Gediya who was sent to prison on June 18 for this. Those were the worst 3 days of my life…I vow never to cross tracks again, he said upon his release………Nilesh Nikade
Starting today this newspaper launches a campaign against crossing tracks which kills over 3,000 Mumbaikars every year. We kick off with the story of medical representative Raju Gediya who was sent to prison on June 18 for this. Those were the worst 3 days of my life…I vow never to cross tracks again, he said upon his release………Nilesh Nikade
On the evening of June 17, when 35-year-old Raju Gediya jumped down from platform 2 of Vasai railway station to cross the tracks and reach platform 1, he did not imagine that his effort to save a few minutes would force him to spend three days in jail.
Gediya, a medical representative, had got down from a train on platform 2 and was in a tearing hurry to reach the exit on the west side through platform 1 as he had guests waiting at home. However, he ran into railway cops on an anti-trespassing drive, who asked him to pay a deposit of Rs 1,000 and present himself in court on June 18. The next day, Railway Protection Force officers produced Gediya and 22 others caught crossing the tracks at the Virar Railway Court. The judge sentenced Gediya and Jayantilal Pathak, 42 – both well-educated men with families – to three and seven days in jail respectively, clearly sending out the message that society expected better of them.
A chastised Gediya, who returned home on Monday after spending three days in Thane Central Jail, said, Those were horrible days for me and my family. Not even my enemies should go through this experience. I will never in my life cross the tracks again.
Taking a cue from the traffic polices successful campaign against drunken driving, the Railways have launched a drive to catch commuters trespassing the tracks and send them to jail. The year-long anti-drunken driving campaign has dramatically reduced the number of fatal accidents on the citys roads.
Every day, at least 10 people die in railway-related accidents in the city. The habit of taking shortcuts to reach railway platforms causes an average of four deaths daily. The Railways believe sending offenders to jail will act as a deterrent and help save lives.
The Western Railways campaign against trespassing involves programmes like Anmol Jeevan, in which Scouts and Guides request people not to cross the tracks. A street play spreading awareness against trespassing is performed at various stations every day.
S S Gupta, chief public relations officer of WR, said, We penalised offenders heavily for a month and booked 2,448 persons, who shelled out fines amounting to Rs 7.16 lakh. Though it slightly reduced the number of deaths on the tracks, there was no significant change.
Now, with courts coming down heavily on offenders, we expect commuters to avoid trespassing.
Meanwhile, Gediya has not dared to venture out of his home after his jail stint. I am neither a hardcore criminal nor did I hurt anyone, yet I was given the harshest punishment, he said, adding that the jail inmates would not believe that he was there only because he had crossed railway tracks.
I survived on bananas for three days. Around 100 people were stuffed in a barrack and we had to struggle for a place to sleep. I could not take a bath in the allotted two hours because of long queues outside the jail loo, Gediya recalled.
Pathak is expected to be released from Thane Central Jail on Wednesday. His family members said they were too distressed by the incident to speak to this reporter.
Why mumbaikars cross tracks
Trespassing is common at railway stations where foot over-bridges are not strategically located. At such stations, people tend to find unauthorised exit and entry points leading from the railway tracks. Often, people cross tracks because of a sudden change in platform allocation for a train.
Trespassing is also seen at railway crossings and where hutments are located near the tracks. People sometimes choose to trespass just to avoid the effort of climbing the staircase of a foot over-bridge.