THERE WAS a 35 per cent decrease in rail deaths on the Mumbai suburban railway line in 2021 as compared to the pre-pandemic 2019, but the number of suicides almost doubled during that same period, as per figures compiled by Mumbai Government Railway Police (GRP).
In 2021, a total of 1,752 rail deaths took place in which 1,114 were due to line crossing, 277 due to falling off trains and 258 due to natural causes. Out of these 1, 557 or 89 per cent victims were men. In comparison, 2,691 rail deaths took place in 2019 while 1,116 such deaths occurred in 2020.
However, the number of people dying by suicide on tracks rose to 54 compared to 28 in 2019 i.e., nearly double. In these 54 suicides, (45 men and 9 women) as many as 20 were at Kalyan GRP, 12 at Dombivli and 10 at Palghar GRP. The year 2020 saw 24 suicides on tracks. On the spike in suicides, a GRP official said, “We do not have an analysis of reasons for these suicides but due to the repeated lockdowns, economy got badly affected. People don’t come to Mumbai to sit at home. Many lost their livelihood… Family and health issues also lead to suicides.”
In 2021, out of 17 railway police stations, six GRPs which recorded the highest rail deaths are Kalyan (288), Thane (184), Kurla (172), Borivali (163), Vashi (124), and Vasai (137) making up 61 per cent of overall deaths (1,752). When asked what measures are being taken to curb rail deaths, police commissioner, Mumbai GRP, Quaiser Khalid said, “Last year, we began mapping accidental deaths using an artificial intelligence application to get the exact location of these deaths. We are analysing data for the last six months after which we will begin physical verification. We will submit our report to the railway administration so that appropriate measures can be implemented in future.”
Kalyan GRP comprises 16 railway stations from Kalyan-Badlapur and Kalyan to Kasara. Valmik Shardul, senior inspector of Kalyan GRP said, “Awareness and better infrastructure is needed. There are settlements along the rail tracks and people opt to walk on tracks rather than skywalks. High boundary walls are needed to stop people from taking short cuts. Two more police stations at Asangaon and Badlapur will be made which will decrease the load on Kalyan GRP.”
An analysis by GRP also shows that Central Railway records more deaths than Western Railway. Out of the 1,752 deaths, CR recorded 1,175 while the remaining 577 were recorded on WR. A CR official said, “We have four corridors, more local and express trains and more commuters than WR.”