In 20 years, the local train system in Mumbai claimed the lives of 52,300 people
The Central and Western Railway zones reported a decrease in the number of deaths over time.The Railways notified the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that over 52,300 people have passed away on Mumbai's suburban train network in the previous nearly 20 years, according to Live Law.The high death rate among Mumbai local train commuters was being discussed by a bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya.
Yatin Jadhav, the petitioner, had highlighted a number of issues that contribute to fatalities on the suburban train system.
In response to orders the court had issued in June, the Western Railway and the Central Railway filed affidavits on Tuesday and Wednesday. Local trains in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area are run by the two railway zones. According to The Indian Express, almost 23,000 people lost their lives on Western Railway routes between June 2024 and 2005. Between June 2024 and June 2009, there were almost 29,300 fatalities on Central Railway lines.
According to India Today, the Western Railway told the court that fewer people had died in previous years. In 2023, 936 people had died and 984 had been injured, compared to 1,084 deaths and 1,517 injuries in 2016.
According to an affidavit obtained by India Today, Santosh Kumar Singh Rathore, the senior divisional security commissioner for the Western Railway, stated that while the administration is sensitive to every incident involving injury or death, its efforts will not be successful until the passengers cooperate better.
It further stated that no new services could be introduced and that more than 100% of the train's capacity is now being used.
According to India Today, the Central Railway notified the court that there is an issue with widespread trespassing on the tracks.
The extra divisional railway manager (administration) of Central Railway's Mumbai division, Shashi Bhushan, told the court that there is a considerable risk of mortality due to slums being too close to the railway tracks.
According to Central Railways, during the past 15 years, fewer people have died while the railway network's capacity to carry passengers has grown.
1,782 people died and 1,614 people were injured in 2009. In 2023, these figures dropped to 1,221 fatalities and 938 injuries, according to the Central Railway.
According to The Indian Express, during the June hearing, the court ordered the general managers of the two railway zones to investigate the issue and requested affidavits regarding the precautions taken to prevent similar mishaps.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
