BHUBANESWAR: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) will now prosecute people indulging in stone-pelting at running trains under the Railways’Act, 1989.
The move comes in the wake of stone-pelting incidents that sometimes leave passengers with severe injuries.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of ECoR has identified a number of places in its jurisdiction where such cases have been reported. They have decided to deploy security personnel in plain clothes to patrol the tracks in those locations and nab people involved in the act.
A month-long awareness drive is also being conducted by RPF personnel through “Nukkad Natak” or street play, distribution of brochures and pamphlets and counselling of parents living in nearby areas to keep their children away from railway tracks.
“RPF is also distributing chocolates to the children in order to sensitise them about the dangers of the act that could also injure family members travelling in trains,” said ECoR officials.
“Stone pelting not only damages national property but also puts lives of passengers at stake. We will deal with this menace firmly,” a senior official from ECoR said adding that in certain cases, it has been found that a few children and youth living near railway tracks sometimes indulge in stone-pelting as a game or just for fun.
“Passengers who bear the brunt of such incidents have also reported about it to ECoR authorities on certain occasions. ECoR has urged the public to help us by reporting such incidents through the toll-free security helpline number 182. However, before taking the legal route, we will conduct awareness programmes for people living near the railway tracks,” he said.
According to ECoR, at least 10 incidents of stone-pelting and arrest of one person from the State had been recorded in its jurisdiction in 2018. Of these cases, six had been reported from Bhubaneswar, while two cases were from Cuttack. Sambalpur Division had also recorded two cases of stone-pelting last year.
The number of such cases has increased to 18 and two persons including a juvenile have been arrested so far this year.
As of August 2019, ECoR has recorded four cases of stone-pelting from Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, three each from Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam and one each from Nergundi, Motari, Rambha, Solari, Balugaon, Ichhapuram, Koraput and Angul.