CHENNAI:Trespassing on the rail track is emerging as a silent killer, as about 2,330 people in the State lost their lives last year after being hit by trains while attempting to cross railway tracks.A little over 800 bodies among the dead are still unidentified, sparking the Government Railway Police (GRP) to sensitise people about the dangers involved in trespassing on tracks.“We are intensifying our awareness campaigns in this regard. People must avoid trespassing for their own safety,” R Sekar, Additional Director General of Police, GRP told Express.Of the whopping 2,300 odd trespassing accidents reported across Tamil Nadu, around 36 per cent of the cases took place in the suburban sections of Chennai.While the Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu section has been identified as the largest trespass-prone zone - with 434 deaths reported between Beach and Maraimalai Nagar railway stations - the Korrukupet-Arambakkam section comprising of urbanised North Chennai and a considerable number of villages in the neighbouring Tiruvallur takes second place with 139 deaths.According to police, walking over the track while chatting on mobile phones, attempts to cross the track unmindful of approaching trains, and suicides are the major reasons for casualties. “As far as the suicides are concerned, more number of women are taking the extreme step owing to family problems than males. In one such instance at Kadambattur in Tiruvallur two months back, a mother with her two children walked on the track against an approaching train and committed suicide,” a GRP official said.A total number of 339 women were killed while trespassing in different parts of the State, while the northern districts alone account for 238.
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