The South Central Railways (SCR) on Friday called on the general public to exercise caution when inside a railway station or near railway tracks to check accidental loss of life.
The railway authorities cautioned the general public to ensure that passengers reached stations before trains depart, did not stand at the entrance, use foot over bridges wherever available and take extreme care not to use earphones while crossing the tracks.
The caution notice by the SCR authorities comes in the wake of increasing incidents of mishaps reported every month. According to figures released by the SCR, railway tracks have become death spots with 60 to 70 persons dying in accidents or by committing suicide in Secunderabad division alone.
Till October 23rd, 151 people have died by committing suicide and 403 people have died in accidents.
In 2008, 576 people died on tracks out of which 257 people committed suicide, while in 2009, there were 515 deaths out of which 248 were suicides.
The SCR said that most of these cases occur due to people committing suicides after being frustrated in life or either by carelessness while crossing the tracks.
The SCR authorities cited the example of software engineer Ramlal, who was hit by an MMTS train when he was walking near the track at Nature Cure station by putting ear phones. Similar incidents had been reported earlier, too, the authorities said.
The SCR authorities also revealed that many cases had been reported where people had died after the door of rail coaches hit them while they stood carelessly near it to smoke.
Some people have succumbed after being hit by poles while hanging onto the doors of MMTS trains.