The Week: Mumbai: Monday, May 27, 2013.
Train
accidents on suburban Mumbai local routes has claimed 23,473 lives in the past
11 years, information sought under the RTI has revealed.
"As per
information given by Central Railway, in the last 11 years (till 2012) a total
of 23,473 people lost their lives in various train accidents on suburban Mumbai
routes," RTI activist and president of Thane District Railway Passengers
Association, Om Prakash Sharma, who sought this information from Central
Railway, told reporters here today.
"Out of
the total number of victims, 14,554 were killed while they were crossing the
tracks," Sharma said.
The Mumbai
Central Railway suburban locals run on various routes between the Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus and Karjat, Kasara, Panvel, among others.
Sharma said
that 4,561 commuters died after they fell from speeding trains; 253 died after
being hit by poles located along the tracks, while 90 people died by falling in
the gap between the train and the platform.
The death
toll on account of other accidents involving the local trains was 4,015, he
added.
The number of
persons injured in the suburban train accidents during this period was 11,981,
he said.
According to
him, the information also revealed that 2,536 people died on the Western
Railway's suburban route between Churchgate and Virar in 2009-2012.
"Almost
70 per cent of those injured in the train accidents succumb to injuries later.
The deaths
and injuries on the Mumbai suburban routes is a matter of concern and we have
urged the railway authorities to take corrective steps in this regard,"
Sharma said, adding that many times it is the mistake of people, who despite
appeals, cross the tracks.
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