Kushinagar tragedy forces Central Railway to go for a month-long safety drive

The Kushinagar disaster, that killed 13 school children in Uttar Pradesh, has forced the Central Railway (CR) to go on a month-long safety drive and checks. In the drive which began soon after the April 26 accident, teams have been formed to inspect the working of the level crossing gate operator, identify issues faced by him from motorists and pedestrians who at times rough up the operator if he does not open the barrier, and inform pedestrians and motorists about ills of crossing tracks when the gate is shut.

On April 14, a truck rammed into a barrier at Thakurli level crossing. Railway Police Force personnel have been posted since the barrier was damaged. The level crossing gate at Diva alone is opened 38 times a day with the highest frequency between 8 and 10 am. Every day hundreds of vehicles and thousands of people cross tracks through level crossings despite trains moving.

Watch this Zee Business video here:

“We will be shutting down this level crossing gate at Thakurli in the first week of May. The work of road overbridge here is almost complete and we shall open it to the public soon,” said SK Jain, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), CR.

“The root cause of all the delays are these level crossing gates. The railways are not constructing road overbridges at Kalwa and Diva for nearly a decade now. There are illegal settlements and structures that need to be cleared for this road overbridge to come up,” said Siddesh Desai, member, Mumbai Railway Pravasi Sangh.

By Shashank Rao, DNA India