Mumbai: This Yamraj saves your life

Dressed in a black velvet coat with gold trimmings a white pearl necklace strung around his neck and brandishing a mace made of gold paper and cardboard in his hand Yamraj appears on a bustling platform of the Churchgate station drawing both amusement and curiosity from onlookers The flashy blackandgold costume on the tall and hefty man looks both comical and jarring at the same time and that is exactly the purposeAnd no this is not a film shoot at the busy station Yamraj is actually Karambir Dahiya a constable with the Railway Protection Force and the man is on a missionHis first lsquovictimrsquo is a hapless commuter looking to save a quick minute by crossing over the tracks instead of walking down the length of the platform Stunned by the God of Deathrsquos sudden manifestation when all he wanted to do was catch that elusive Borivli Fast local hersquos soon confronting the reality that the one minute he tried to save could have been the last minute he had to live Yamraj reminds him that itrsquos safest to waste a minute than to risk his lifeDespite repeated awareness campaigns and regular action taken by all authorities concerned trackcrossing and the resulting deaths remain one of the biggest challenges faced by the RailwaysAlso Read Mumbai Eros Theatre is going nowhereldquoI think itrsquos a good awareness mission to help passengers understand their mistakesrdquo says Dahiya who goes after trackcrossers as well as those trying to board a running train ldquoThe aim is to bring home the seriousness of what crossing the tracks means If we have to draw attention in such an eyecatching manner then so be itrdquoThe Yamraj initiative is part of the Western Railway establishmentrsquos Zero Deaths Mission aimed at minimising fatalities on the railway tracksldquoWe have adopted a multipronged strategyrdquo says Sumit Thakur the chief public relations officer Western Railway ldquoAs part of this strategy the first step is to enhance the infrastructure We have started building wider foot overbridges FOBs From Churchgate to Dahanu road as of date we have almost 150 FOBsrdquo he says adding ldquoAlso we have more than 50 lifts and 100 escalators installed on the Mumbai suburban rail route to ensure ease of movement for the passengers The second part is the IEC campaignmdashInformation Education and Counselling for which we have enrolled celebrities to drive the message homerdquomidday had reported in its April 12 edition that Borivli station had the highest number of deaths due to trackcrossings in the financial year 2022 In the financial year 202223 WR recorded 449 deaths due to trespassing on railway tracks which is higher than the 410 deaths recorded in 202122 ldquoStations like Andheri Jogeshwari Borivli Virar and Nallasopara on the Western line have the most number of offenders However the numbers were lower as compared to the prepandemic levels If we compare the preCOVID data with the current figures therersquos definitely been a decline in the number of illegal trespassing deathsrdquo Thakur saysAn RPF officer stated that this initiative was started some years ago and is drawing positive feedback from the publicSo the next time you see Yamraj at a railway station donrsquot be alarmed This Yamraj is actually here to save your life449No of deaths due to trackcrossings in FY 202223