Lucknow, Dec 3 (PTI) Home guard personnel will bedeployed at 143 unmanned railway level crossings in 11districts of Uttar Pradesh in a bid to ensure no accidentstake place at such junctions.
Divisional Railway Manager of Northern Railway (Lucknow)Satish Kumar told PTI that a letter requesting deployment ofhome guard personnel was sent to the Homeguards Department aweek ago.
"This decision has been taken so as to ensure thataccidents happening at the unmanned level crossings can beminimised. We are hopeful that the home guard personnel willbe deployed in the second week of this month," he said.
"The duty allowance will be deposited in the bankaccounts of the guards in the first week of every month. TheRailways will assign duty to them and check them. Besidesthis, Railways will provide safety jackets, flags, torches,folding chairs, tables, temporary huts, raincoats and LEDlamps to the guards," he added.
Sanjeev Kumar Shukla, the Commandant of Lucknow-basedCentral Training Institute (of Homeguards department), saidRailways had requested for deployment of home guard personnelat unmanned level crossings in 11 districts.
These districts are Ambedkarnagar, Faizabad, Allahabad,Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Amethi, Barabanki,Unnao and Lucknow.
"As many as 429 home guard personnel will be on duty at143 unmanned level crossings doing eight-hours duty in threeshifts," Shukla said, adding they will be authorised to lodgeFIRs at the nearest police station against those passers-bywho violate rules.
Instructions have been issued to the district-levelofficers of the homeguards department to select the personnelfrom their districts.
"Those from the age group of 21-50 years will bedeployed," Shukla said.
The guards will be given mobile phones so that they cancontact the nearest Railway office and control room, he said.
They will also be given identity cards and a pamphletcontaining necessary safety instructions, he added.
On November 23, a train hit an SUV at an unmannedcrossing near Amethi killing four persons and injuring two.
The vehicle, packed with people belonging to a marriage party,was hit at Matha Bhusunda village under the Musafirkhanapolice station. PTI NAVZMN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.