MARGAO: The incidence of people dying at railway stations in the state is slowly rising. Available data for this year till June 25 indicates that of the 21 people who died at railway stations, six died by suicide while 13 passed away accidentally and two died on platforms.
A majority of these deaths were recorded on the Margao-Majorda and Thivim-Pernem train routes and all have been registered as unnatural deaths by the Konkan Railway (KR) police under provisions of the CrPC.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
The most recent such death was that of a young man, believed to be around 25 years old, whose lifeless body was discovered near the railway track at Majorda earlier this month. In May, the KR police found the body of an unidentified person, estimated to be 44 years old, lying on a bench on platform 6 at Margao railway station.
Last year, as many as 59 people were found dead on railway tracks along the Canacona-Margao-Pernem route as against 46 in 2021. Railway police sources said that on an average, close to 47 people have died each year from 2017 to 2022, with an exception of 2020 during which 24 casualties were recorded, probably as an offshoot of Covid-induced restrictions. But the year prior to that saw 57 deaths, while 43 were recorded in 2018 and 50 in 2017.
Of the 59 deaths recorded at railway stations in 2019, six people had died by suicide, 45 were accidentally hit by trains while crossing tracks of after falling from a train, and eight died due to natural causes.
KR police sources said most of the deaths have been attributed to drunkenness and that a majority of the victims were males in the 30-50 year age group.
Pertinently, despite preventive measures being taken to improve and create infrastructure to minimise casualties on railway tracks, the number of fatalities does not seem to be receding.
Margao-based lawyer Amarnath Desai said that trespassing on railway premises, including railway tracks, is a punishable offence even as a committee of railway officers has been formed to study the causes and suggest specific measures to minimise deaths due to untoward incidents, including trespassing.
