Uchit Singhal, Dr Shally
Railways, especially railway tracks, are very much prone to unauthorised trespassing due to their open environment. People moving across tracks or on tracks, are not a rare sight. Leave alone the big cities and the habited areas, people resort to this practice of unauthorizedly crossing the tracks in the open field areas as well. Despite the trespassing being a punishable offence under section 147 Railway Act, the menace of trespassing still prevails at large.
First step in prescribing a cure is knowing the extent of the disease. Trespassing over Railway tracks can be due to multiple reasons but the most prominent one is adopting a short cut. Often due to level crossings, Road under bridges and Foot over bridges located away, people resort to this unauthorised practice to save on some energy or some fuel. It can be seen at the stations that people cross tracks even in the face of approaching trains so that they can save a few minutes of their time. It can be seen at the level crossings also when people get impatient to even wait for a few minutes to let the train pass. It can be seen near tracks passing through fields where people try to pass their tractors over the track which often get stuck also in the process. Apart from above, railway tracks are also known for people attending to the nature’s call there.
Now the second step – what are the implications of leaving the disease unaddressed. Clearly the people trespassing so freely are quite unmindful of the risks this dangerous adventure involves. A few days back a news of 3 little children jumping off the railway bridge to save their lives, jolted Jammu. As per official estimates, around 3200 Human runover cases have taken place in Northern Railways only in this Calendar year till date out of which around 500 cases pertain to Firozpur division itself, with around 20-25 cases pertaining to J&K UT region. Another figure states that over Northern Railways almost 4500 trains got impacted due to these human run overs. When a loco pilot working a train sees a person trespassing ahead, he slows the train and many a time has to apply emergency brakes also in an effort to save that persons’ life which may or may not bring the train to a complete halt, thus causing loss of not only the punctuality of that train but also the other trains behind it. As per rough estimate, a train carries almost 1700-2000 people. How is it justified that a person to save his few minutes, causes not only risk to his own life thus knowingly or unknowingly affecting his family also. He also causes detention to almost 2000 other people. And, the story doesn’t end there only. HROs (Human Runovers due to trespassing) might become a cause for loco failures, train dis-couplings and even can cause train derailments. The loss and damage this can cause to railways and society is beyond imagination.
After knowing the extent of the problem, we come on to the final step i.e. the medicine. Yes, stricter implementation of existing Laws and booking under relevant provisions of Railway act is one aspect but it has its limitations. All the above practices have so much ingrained in each and every one of us that we don’t think it illegitimate any more. Over a period of time, these practices have become acceptable in our system of beliefs. But as they say “Like father like son”, these practices have not got themselves limited to that particular person who is resorting to them but has further passed onto our future generations as well. Now when we see or hear any news relating to any abnormality or untoward incident happening with the people while they were trespassing the tracks, first thought that comes to mind is not why they were doing it in the first place but that they should have been more careful. Unless we change our attitude and thinking towards trespassing, this will keep on going no matter how much strict the law gets to be. Let me explain with an example. A drive was recently launched at the Jammu Tawi Railway station by the station authorities, RPF and GRP combinedly to tackle this menace. But despite all the actions taken under railway act, the trespassing is still happening daily. And it is not limited to a particular group or section of society, even Women carrying their children with them, daily wage earners, school going children, daily railway passengers among many others can be seen walking on the tracks in such a carefree manner like it is their own backyard.
So how to bring about that attitudinal change or that behavioural shift?There is no straightforward solution but involves a multi-dimensional approach requiring a holistic view and involving the efforts of all the stakeholders involved. A multi-pronged approach involving engineering, education and enforcement needs to be adopted. Let us take them one by one.
Engineering: Some locations are always more prone to trespassing than others. It might be due to some weak area left near tracks in form of damaged boundary wall or improper protection as the erstwhile Level crossing gates which are now defunct due to construction of road over bridges among others. It may also be due to the nearest level crossing or Road over bridge or under bridge being distant or totally non-existent. Each identified trespassing prone area should be given adequate thought from engineering point of view also, because a good alternative first needs to exist before we resort to education and enforcement. Those weak areas need to be protected or adequately fenced so as to deter the trespassing. The engineering solution may not always be in the railways capacity to provide and may involve collaboration with State and Central Govt ministries and departments. Swachh Bharat Mission has been very effective in tackling the menace of open defecation thus eradicating the need ofmany people to move on and across the tracks in the wee hours.
Education: Nelson Mandella once remarked – Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. This education might not happen in schools and colleges, but at homes and the society in which we live. This might be by means of counselling cum awareness sessions or using requisite signages also. The people need to be educated in the form they can understand, in the language they can comprehend and in the medium to which they can relate. They need to understand the dangers this unauthorised trespassing poses to them, their family and the society at large. For this civil society and media can come in quite handy. Civil society i.e. the NGOs are very close to the people and, therefore, they command acceptability among their target group. They need to carry out IEC (Information, education and counselling) campaigns by means of awareness sessions, holding theme-based essay/painting competitions and nukkad naataks which may be done in the folk language of that region. Recently in Ahmedabad a RASTA campaign was launched in collaboration with civil society groups to spread road awareness through quiz, poster, slogan competitions. The campaign was a huge success. An exercise on similar lines can be done with respect to trespassing also.
Media – media is termed as the fourth pillar of democracy and it needs to play its part in bringing about this change in people. As the reach that media has and the trust that media enjoys, is unmatched, it needs to highlight the trespassing in a negative light bringing forth its consequences and the damages it does to the society as a whole. People need to be educated about the importance of time of other persons as well and a sense of ownership along with a feeling of responsibility should be developed in them with respect to railway resources and assets.
Enforcement: Enforcement can always reap results for short term but yes, a punitive deterrent is always required till the time education methodology starts reaping results. Identification of weak areas, adequate patrolling by RPF and GRP around those areas, surprise/ambush checks, regular whistling by the security personnel deployed and if need be, booking of trespassers under relevant provisions of Railway Act needs to be done.
The role that Government has to play in all this, is quite versatile. It has to be an enabler as well as a facilitator to render all possible assistance to the above agencies to curb the unauthorised trespassing. In places where civil society is not much active, it itself needs to play an active role. After all, a democratic government is by the people, for the people and of the people and it is one such drive related to the people themselves. Unless and until all the stakeholders, including the people themselves, unite in this one direction to address the trespassing, it will continue in one form or another and will continue to pose risks to safety of citizens as well as to safe train operations. Afterall, Better late than never.
(Uchit Singhal is an IRTS officer serving in J&K and Dr.Shally, a Ph.D in economics from Kurukshetra University)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
