After trackman’s loss of life, a plea for safety measures
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Railway monitor maintainers, keymen, and pointsmen have sought safer working situations in opposition to the backdrop of a trackman being fatally knocked down by a loco engine and his colleague getting critically injured in Thrissur on Monday. The duo had acquired onto the following monitor upon seeing a prepare approaching on the monitor they have been strolling on, and have been run over by the loco engine. Alappuzha native Harshakumar died on the spot.
“Around 300 of our colleagues die each year in such accidents. We have been demanding that Railway provide us walkie-talkies to get live alerts on train movement and to improve our working conditions. This would help personnel in remote locations inform supervisors about the condition of railway tracks if need arose,” mentioned Sarathkumar S., secretary in cost, Southern Railway Track Maintainers’ Unity.
He mentioned he too had encountered a related incident. “Visibility is especially poor during the rainy season and at curves and when there are trains in both the up and down tracks.”
Threat from wild animals
There have been cases of run-ins with wild animals close to the monitor at Walayar, Nilambur, and Punalur. “Recently, on the Ooty-Mettupalayam route, two trackmen escaped from a leopard by sheer luck. A trackman was trampled to death by an elephant at Kallar in 2010,” mentioned a pointsman who has confronted a related scenario.
Against COVID-19
In addition, tracksmen (round 35% of whom are girls) have sought measures to forestall unfold of COVID-19 among the many workforce. “We work in groups and handle the same tools and machinery,” they mentioned mentioned.
They additionally alleged impediments to promotion. According to them, most personnel retire as keyman (who patrol tracks) and the working situations stay the identical till retirement.
In response, railway sources mentioned the working situations, wage construction and promotion prospects of personnel engaged in monitor obligation had improved through the years, based mostly on pay fee suggestions. They can change into technician, supervisor or engineer. A essential demand has been permission for lateral entry, which is troublesome now, they mentioned.
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