Delhi Metro: 400 cases of jaywalking, 88 suicide bids leave CISF at wit’s end
NEW DELHI: While jaywalkers have proved irritants to road safety rules, the protected environs of the Delhi Metro have not remained unaffected from the contempt for approaching traffic, as CISF detected more than 400 cases of unauthorised walking on tracks of the rail network this year.
The rail network in the national capital region, that carries an average of 26 lakh passengers per day, saw at least 88 suicide attempts during the period; 12 were successful.
The security agency - mandated to provide an armed cover to the over 150 stations of the network in Delhi and adjoining cities of Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon - reported that more than 340 people were fined for jaywalking on tracks after it handed them over to Metro authorities and police.
These figures are reflected in a full-year data compiled by the force for 2016 and updated till the middle of December.
Officials said unauthorised walking on tracks have been reported largely from elevated and ground stations, not many were detected from under-ground stations of the Delhi Metro.
They said when caught on tracks, some commuters were diagnosed with depression, some were inebriated while others were trespassing or just jaywalking on the rails.
“The CISF detected these people while monitoring the CCTV footage of the stations, during foot patrol or on information provided by Metro staff or commuters,” they said. Out of the 88 suicide incidents detected, 12 resulted in death while 11 were intercepted by Central Industrial Security Force personnel, 20 were saved due to timely intervention by people around and 45 were rushed to hospitals with injuries.
To curb illegal trespassing and suicide attempts, the force undertakes surveillance operations regularly and deploys women and men personnel in plain clothes to keep an eye on anyone exhibiting suspicious behaviour.
In a similar stead, more than 3,200 male passengers, travelling in all-women coaches of Delhi Metro, were made to de-board by the force, which runs an operation called ‘Kali’ to check the notorious activity and provide security to female commuters.
CISF women personnel have been trained in Filipino martial art technique called ‘Pekiti-tirsia Kali’ (hence operation Kali), which is a close-quarter unarmed combat skill used to take on multiple opponents at one time by using obscure objects usually worn on the body like a pen or a hairpin.