Imagine you are walking on railway tracks on a bridge across a river and you see a train fast approaching on those tracks. You would be extremely lucky if you have time to rush inside one of the refuge bays by the side of the tracks on railway bridges. Otherwise, the consequences would surely be fatal. One such fatal accident took place last week on the Bharathapuzha bridge near Shoranur Junction railway station in Kerala. Four contract labourers hired for cleaning railway tracks were hit by an oncoming train on this bridge.
With railway lines criss-crossing the length and breadth of India, track trespasser deaths are a daily occurrence in India. According to reports, in 2023, there were as many as 1,357 deaths on railway tracks in Kerala alone. There has been a 32% increase in such deaths over the 2022 toll.
One might be tempted to turn a blind eye towards this problem as these fatalities take place because of an illegal activity: trespassing on railway property. But the truth is that as the population density around railway tracks increases, people spilling onto these lines becomes an inevitability. So, trespasser deaths will continue to rise in India. What can be done at least to mitigate this mortality?
I have had the fortune of interacting with many officials of the Indian Railways who were very keen to mitigate the problem of trespassing accidents on railway tracks. This gave me an opportunity to study the problem of trespassing in depth.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 14, 2024 من Mint Mumbai.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 14, 2024 من Mint Mumbai.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
World Bank calls for reforming skills training in India
India must make a coordinated effort to reform and rebrand vocational skill training, besides aligning education with the job market, to leverage its demographic advantage to meet the $5-trillion target for its economy, the World Bank said.
FCPA cases take long to conclude after indictment
For investors keen to know the fate of billionaire Gautam Adani's indictment by US authorities, the watchword is patience.
Short-covering, relief rally add ₹7.27 trillion wealth
Markets up 2.39% to hit the highest in six months, a day after Adani's indictment
Wetter monsoon slows pace of adding new transmission lines
India's addition of new power transmission lines fell by half over a year earlier in the April-October period as a wetter-than-usual monsoon slowed work.
COP29's $1.3 tn fund plan disappoints Global South
The 29th edition of the UN climate change conference in Azerbaijan emerged from a deadlock with an annual climate finance goal of $1.3 trillion for developing countries, much to the disappointment of the Global South.
Jaguar rebrand is pink, diverse and doesn't feature any cars
Luxury automaker Jaguar is betting that a colorful and youthful rebrand will help it successfully launch fully into the electric-cars market.
Services up as manufacturing slows in Nov
The HSBC Flash India Services PMI was at 59.2 in Nov from 58.5 in Oct; manufacturing PMI fell slightly from 60.4 to 60.2
MSMED may protect medium firms too
The Centre may consider including medium enterprises for the protection granted under MSME Development (MSMED) Act, 2006, to resolve payment disputes.
Europe boosts Indian textile exports in FY25
Demand for Indian handloom, apparel partly fuelled by Bangladesh crisis
RBI nudges banks to cut speculative bet in rupee
The Indian central bank, in a rare move, instructed some banks to cut their long positions on the dollar-rupee pair on Friday, seeking to curb speculative positions with the currency at a record low, four bankers familiar with the development told Reuters.