Mumbai Local News: Railways To Crackdown On Those Performing Stunts

In order to prevent fatal incidents in Mumbai local trains, the Government Railway Police (GRP) officials will now crackdown on those performing stunts or violating the norms of commute by public transport.

This move comes after a 24-year-old man died as a result of touching the overhead wire while riding on the rooftop of a local train. The overhead wires of the suburban local network carry high voltage electricity of 25kv/50 Hz.

In this initiative, GRP officials will now prepare a list of spots where youngsters perform stunts to prevent fatal incidents.

There will be a crackdown on train surfing and other acts, including clicking selfies while hanging from the train, walking on the tracks and riding rooftops, officials added.

CR said that railways have started a special drive to identify locations, especially on the Harbour line, where stunts are performed frequently and have also sensitised the front-line staff like the RPF personnel to report such incidents even if they are cases like hanging outside from train or trying to touch poles while travelling.

According to available data, the GRP has registered five cases of stunts from January to July this year. The officers also said that mostly these stunts are performed by students and teenagers. Since the schools and colleges were closed, the stunts were far less during the pandemic.

As part of their efforts to curb such incidents, they are putting up informative posters on trains and stations to make people aware of the dangers involved in getting close to the overhead wires.

In 2020 and 2021, there were zero cases of stunts as the trains were mostly shut for ordinary people and even after the trains resumed, the vigilance by the police had prevented the people from performing stunts.

In 2019, the GRP registered 22 cases of dangerous stunts during the same period (Jan to July) under section 156 of the Railway Act. In 2019, the railway police force had taken action against 499 commuters for travelling on rooftops which were reduced to zero, owing to their special drive to penalise people performing dangerous stunts.