An avoidable tragedy

The tragic death of 30 pilgrims on Monday morning at the Dhamara Ghat station in Khagaria district of Bihar once again spotlights the problem of tens of thousands of unmanned railway crossings in the country. These claim thousands of human lives every year. Though the railways are committed to progressively reduce their number and replace them with manned crossings, the lack of funds and the enormity of the task involved makes it harder for the veritable deathtraps to be shut down in a hurry. It is notable that hundreds of people die yearly on the tracks of the local railways network in Mumbai itself. But the Monday morning death of pilgrims to a nearby temple in Khagaria also focusses on the complete lack of civic sense. The annual pilgrimage attracts devotees from all parts of Bihar. But Khagaria is not even a regular railway station, with a proper platform and other paraphernalia. The pilgrims who had alighted from a slow train were trying to cross the tracks, when the Patna-bound Rajyarani Superfast Express came down upon them at 80 km per hour. By the time its driver noticed the people on the track and applied emergency brakes, it was too late. Trapped pilgrims could not even jump on the other side since another train was stationed on the parallel tracks. Remarkably, the super fast train had the green signal, so it could not have even slowed down or stopped at the Khagaria station. Frankly, the driver of the superfast train, who was beaten up by an angry mob, could not be faulted. He did his best to stop the train on seeing people in his way. Yes, the local station authorities ought to have displayed a better sense by ensuring that the people crossed the tracks only after the superfast train had passed the station. Or they could have given a red signal to the superfast. Khagaria being one of the thousands of stations where trains hardly stop, at least during the annual pilgrimage the state the railways authorities ought to have coordinated steps to provide for safe conduct of the throngs of devotees through the tracks. A pedestrian overbridge was the simplest way to ensure that such tragedies do not occur. Meanwhile, the railways have shown grace by announcing an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, though technically, it was not an accident, since the train enjoyed the right of way. Widespread ignorance about rail safety rules results in thousands of fatalities on the tracks every year on the countrywide rail network. In this case, the cumulative death toll involving devotees going to a wayside temple has made the tragedy most poignant. Henceforth, the railways and the state government ought to take precautions so that such tragedies do not occur again.