58 DEAD, 72 HURT AS TRAIN MOWS DOWN CROWD IN AMRITSAR

72 hurt in biggest such mishap in the recent past

At least 58 people were killed and 72 injured on Friday evening after a train ran over a crowd of Dussehra revellers near Amritsar. The group had spilled onto the railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy, officials said. The train was going from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred. At least 300 people were watching Ravana dahan at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

At least 58 people were killed and 72 injured on Friday after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near in Amritsar’s Joda.

All services on Jalandhar-Amritsar route remained suspended three hours after accident, a railway official said. While some trains are being diverted, many are stationed near Jalandhar.

This is not a one-off incident in the railways. According to statistics, over 45 people, on an average, die every day on the rail tracks in India. According to official figures, in the last three years (between 2015 and 2017), at least 49,790 persons lost their lives after being hit by trains. Friday’s accident is considered to be the biggest such mishap in the recent past, when the Nakodar to Jalandhar DMU train mowed down people.

According to reports, at least 300 people were reportedly on the spot when the accident happened. The death toll may be higher. Two such major accidents in the recent history of the railways was in 2013. The first one was on August 19, when the Saharsa–Patna Rajya Rani Superfast Express ran over passengers disembarking from another train at the Dhamara station in Bihar, killing 35 persons and the second one was on November 2 when the Alappuzha–Dhanbad Express ran over passengers of another train. The passengers had jumped onto the adjacent track due to a rumor that their train was on fire. The incident claimed 10 lives.

The railways said the reasons behind these deaths include trespassing, violating safety and cautionary instructions, avoiding over bridges and using mobile phones while crossing railway tracks.

Fencing of tracks may not be a viable option as railways cover 67,312 kilometres across the country. Among the 16 railway zones, Northern Railway is the most affected by such deaths on tracks, claiming 7,908 lives, followed by Southern Railway with a toll of 6,149 in

the last three years. Though railway zones have launched various awareness campaigns, they seem to be having no effect.

Friday’s accident comes close on the heels of seven people getting killed on October 10, when the New Farakka Express derailed near Raebareli. In April 13, children were killed in Kushinagar after a train hit a school van. Critics claim that one of the major reasons for accidents may be staff crunch as the railways is yet to fill vacancies of around 1,41,000 safety staff.

After the Raebareli incident, the railways came out with numbers claiming that between 2014 and 2018, since the Narendra Modi government took charge, the number of train collisions came down by 52.4 per cent compared to the average per year figures between 2004 and 2014 of the UPA regime.