UNMANNED RAILWAY CROSSINGS – A GATEWAY TO DEATH

UNMANNED RAILWAY CROSSINGS – A GATEWAY TO DEATH
By Vijayabharathi C
Posted online: 24th Apr 2007

Last week after reading the morning newspaper, I became very much anguished over the news of a train accident that happened at an unmanned level crossing in Kanchipuram, 75 km from Chennai. The news of this incident has filled my heart with grief to no extent. This is the second such accident that has happened within a year (the previous one involved a suburban train and an overloaded share auto, resulting in the loss of 17 lives), and that too in the same district. This only shows the apathy and negligence of the government in providing proper railway infrastructure (especially manned level crossings). Eleven people including 9 village administrative officers [VAO] were killed in the gruesome accident, the reason being the van driver misjudged the speed of the train, tried to cross the unmanned level crossing in haste and the van got rammed by the train. According to state government sources, there are totally 1116 unmanned level crossings in the state. All these are open death wells, waiting to swallow people anytime. This also proves that accidents can happen to anybody, anywhere and at anytime. Only proper precautions can prevent them.

If the government truly wanted to prevent such accidents, it should have converted all unmanned crossings to manned ones as soon as the previous major accident involving an unmanned level crossing had occurred in the state, a few months ago. Instead, the government announced hefty solatiums to the kith and kin of the deceased, and chose to pay lip service to improving the railway infrastructure. It has decided to follow the same approach this time also. After the disaster, the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, Mr. Karunanidhi, has appealed to the central government to sanction Rs.5000 crore to convert all unmanned crossings to manned ones. If the government is truly concerned about the welfare of its citizen, apart from announcing populist measures like low cost luxury trains (garib rath), it should also allocate more funds for passenger and pedestrian safety and construct subways, over bridges, and manned level crossings wherever possible. Though the announcement of big amounts of money to the families of the deceased cannot be criticized, the government’s lackadaisical attitude towards the safety of pedestrians crossing the railway track comes in for sharp censure. Cases in point are the dilapidated, broken and filthy subways and over bridges at many suburban (and urban) railway stations in the state, thereby forcing the people to cross the track directly, putting their lives in great peril. One can only hope and pray that at least after this incident, the government will wake up and swing into action and that such incidents will not be repeated in the future.

Having said that, one cannot entirely find fault with the government for such kind of accidents. The common man also has to partly shoulder the blame. He flouts rules with such impunity that it would put thieves to shame. It would not be an exaggeration to say that even an animal, which is supposedly five-sensed, would have more common sense than the six-sensed human who violates rules. For example, he crosses the railway track at manned level crossings, even if the gate allowing pedestrians to cross is closed, indicating that the train is hardly a few meters away from the crossing. Many a time, he also chooses to travel on the footboard of the train, turning a blind eye to the warning, which states that footboard traveling is a punishable offence, painted on the inner side of the train compartment. As a result, there is a very high risk of the person hanging on the footboard, getting hit by the electric post near the track. Innumerable lives have been lost through this kind of behavior. Driving vehicles rashly (as is the case in this particular accident) and in an inebriated condition is the major cause of not only rail accidents, but also of general accidents worldwide. It also reminds one of the clichéd, but relevant proverb ‘Haste makes Waste’. The government, on its part, has conducted numerous awareness campaigns and has also broadcast various advertisements on TV and radio on the need to be cautious while crossing unmanned level crossings, but to no avail. The public is very keen to disobey the rules laid down by the government, and sometimes takes false pride in doing so. They openly talk about how they violated the rail safety rules and escaped without getting caught, little knowing that they are ultimately fooling themselves in the process. Such people should be heavily fined and if necessary, be put behind bars. The fine should be of the order of a few hundred, to a maximum of a few thousand rupees. Those who feel that the fine amount is high should be reminded that a person’s life is priceless. The government is also probing the possibility of constructing road underpasses at all unmanned crossings. The railway administration has been recently directed to install warning facilities with fluorescent lightings at all unmanned crossings, to aid in the safe movement of vehicles crossing the track after sunset.

All said and done, I would like to conclude by saying that though the government cannot be criticized for providing jobs and financial assistance to the kin of the deceased in an accident, it would be more useful if it could provide the proper infrastructure in addition to the above. I also urge the common man to use an iota of common sense (the presence of which is very uncommon) to prevent such avoidable, man-made accidents in the near future. Let us all hope for and work towards a zero accident rate at all unmanned crossings in the country by next year, by creating awareness among our fellowmen.

Share Auto

Share Auto
By Vijayabharathi C
Posted Online: 19th Apr 2007

When you walk past the prominent bus stands or bus stops in Chennai downtown, one thing easily noticeable by everybody is the share auto. Share auto is one of the new modes of transport in the various towns and cities of Tamilnadu. As I am one among the thousands and thousands of software engineers in this country, I used to travel daily from my place to office through share auto. When you go near a share auto you will easily hear the grueling sound of young boys, shouting very loudly to make their auto jam-packed with people. I am wondering about the lives they lead, after seeing the nature of their job. In this article, I have tried to find out the reasons, which drive them to do such work instead of attending school and have compared their way of life with mine.

Maybe they are one among the millions and millions of poor citizens in the country who have been deprived of their basic needs. Maybe they have not been taught the importance of proper education. Maybe they are the sole breadwinners for their family. At that time, numerous such questions popped up in my mind. Few points came to my mind, when I sat down calmly and thought of this issue. I have listed those points below and tried to draw a comparison between their life and mine.

1) Within a few years of the current software industry boom, prices of essential commodities started to shoot up in all parts of the country, because of a corresponding increase in the purchasing power of the people. This change drastically affected the poor people. As a software engineer, I am earning more than Rs.1000/- a day whereas they are earning less than Rs.100/- a day on an average. Many a time, I have wondered how this amount could be sufficient for a family to have three square meals a day, let alone manage other day-to-day expenses? The above example is one form of development, which indicates a growing economy. This culture is similar to one, which is now existent in the U.S. i.e. Rich people are getting richer, and the poor are becoming poorer. So the gap between the rich and the poor has become very large.

2) These boys are wasting an important phase in their life - childhood. They are neither able to reap the benefits of education, nor are they able to enjoy the sweetness and innocence of childhood. The nature of their work literally robs them of their childhood by imposing rigorous physical labor on them at such a young age. If they are properly educated during this phase, they will probably have a chance of working in an A.C cubicle and earning a handsome salary in the future, instead of getting fried everyday under the hot sun. Maybe their parents themselves are illiterate and did not emphasize the importance of proper education to their children.

3) Generally young boys doing this kind of work may be seduced by all kinds of evil habits for want of proper guidance. They may take to these habits for the thrill of it or to escape the clutches of boredom. These boys spend most of their time idling away (as they have little work to do and live for the day) and as the saying goes ‘An idle mind is a devil’s workshop’. Sometimes they may fall under the influence of nefarious elements and become anti-social elements in the society. They may then have a corrupting influence on other young, innocent boys they meet, thereby creating a ‘ripple effect’, leading more and more children away from the path of education and honesty.

From the above points, I conclude that these people are more under-privileged than orphans in orphanages, because they don’t get proper education, they don’t have anybody to guide them in the correct path, they can easily fall prey to evil elements in the society.

After seeing the plight of these young and innocent, but unfortunate boys, I feel very much blessed by the almighty to lead a happy, content and peaceful life. I would like to acknowledge this blessing by saying a quiet ‘Thank You’ to the lord. Finally, I would like to conclude this article by quoting a message I remember:

“If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy.

And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity.

Also If you woke up this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day.

If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.

If you can attend a place of worship without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than three billion people in the world.”