CHENNAI: Commuters entering the Guindy Railway station from the Race Course Road by crossing the short boundary wall face the risk of being run over by trains and construction of a higher wall is being suggested to prevent this.
Last week, 21-year-old Vinoth, a functionary of Tamilaga Valvurimai Katchi (TVK) was died while trying to cross over the wall. Though it was due to the steel flag pole that he was carrying hitting the high voltage over-head wires, there are many who use this shortcut everyday, station officials pointed out.
“A wall is necessary. For, the Egmore-Guindy stretch is prone to run over accidents. Walls constructed along the route has brought down the number of deaths,” said deputy superintendent of police, GRP, V Ponramu.
A gap in a boundary wall at the southern end of the station enabled commuters to alight from trains and walk across tracks to the adjacent main road instead of taking the foot-over-bridge, resulting in a number of run over deaths. “Over the last two years, I have myself supervised the removal of around 200 dead bodies from this spot,” said a station master.
Though youngsters still attempt to climb the wall, the height deterred the women, he pointed out. And fatalities have almost come down to nil, the official says, because of the 15 foot wall with glass shards on the top. “A similar wall needs to be constructed at the other end as well,” station staffers said.
Prevention of trespasser deaths on the Egmore-Tambaram route remains a priority due to the large number of residents living in the immediate vicinity of the tracks, Ponramu said.