A total of 16 persons, including two women, died and 14 others were injured in train accidents on the Mumbai suburban railway line on Monday.
As per the figures at least one person died in less than two hours on Monday.
An RTI query has revealed that since 2001 till 2011, on an average, 10 persons have died and 10 others have been injured daily in train accidents on the Mumbai suburban railway line. Of the 16 persons, who died on Monday, 12 occurred on the Central Railway line, while the remaining six were on the Western Railway route.
According to a GRP official, many of these deaths occurred due to trespassing.
One death each was reported from Mumbai Central, Vashi, Palghar and Vasai government railway police stations. While two deaths each were reported from Dadar, Kurla, Thane, Dombivali and Kalyan government railway police stations. Nine bodies have remained unclaimed.
When contacted, A.K. Singh, CR, public relations officer, said, “We are taking measures to curb the menace of train accidents. We make regular announcements on all railway stations and give advertisements in theatres to sensitise people towards the menace. We are also making more foot overbridges this year, but commuters must understand that trespassing for taking short cuts is a crime. We also make frequent announcements asking commuters not to travel on the footboard.”
When asked what was being done to stop trespassing that takes place due to broken security walls, Mr Singh said, “We are making use of steel fencing, which is difficult to break.”