Western Railway asks cattle grazers to keep animals away from tracks

With cattle run over cases involving the prestigious Vande Bharat Express on its route, the Mumbai-headquartered Western Railway (WR) has initiated a series of measures.

The WR administration and the Railway Protection Force have appealed to cattle owners and cattle grazers to not let their cattle come near the railway land or tracks and warned of stringent action under the law against the violators.

According to WR CPRO Sumit Thakur, instances of cattle run over have adversely affected rail operations, increasing the possibility of rail accidents including derailments.

"This also endangers the safety of passengers and may lead to disruption of rail traffic and loss to rail property. For the prevention of such cases in the future, RPF Mumbai Division has identified various vulnerable locations,” said Thakur.

The RPF has carried out frequent awareness and sensitisation campaigns at all these locations.

In 2022, RPF has conducted 1,023 awareness campaigns at vulnerable locations till now.

Besides this, RPF has conducted meetings with the sarpanch of all villages in the vicinity of railway tracks.

More than 50 meetings have been conducted this year.

Resident and cattle grazers of the nearby villages where such incidents take place are being counselled not to let their livestock graze near the railway tracks as there are chances of the livestock entering or crossing the tracks and getting run over by the speeding trains.

Dumping of garbage along the railway tracks by the people is also a cause, as this attracts the cattle to graze near the railway lands/tracks. RPF Mumbai Division is also working in close coordination with city administration and city police to prevent the movement of stray cattle near railway tracks.

As per the provisions of Railways Act 1989, owners of cattle are liable to be punished under Section 154 (endangering safety of persons travelling by railway by willful act or omission, punishable with imprisonment for one year, or with fine or both) and under Section 147 (trespass and refusal to desist from trespass, punishable with imprisonment for 6 months, or fine Rs 1,000 or both).