These deaths on tracks are not considered railway accidents (Representational).
New Delhi:
Over 8,700 people were mowed down on railway tracks in 2020 even though passenger train services were severely curtailed during the year due to the national coronavirus lockdown, with officials saying many of the victims were migrant workers.
The Railway Board shared the data on such deaths for the period between January and December 2020 in its reply to a question by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur under the Right to Information Act. Based on the information received from the State Police, 805 people suffered injuries and 8,733 people died on the railway track between January 2020 and December 2020, the Railway Board has said.
Over 8,700 people have lost their lives on railway tracks even though passenger trains were suspended or severely reduced due to the Covid pandemic. Many among the dead were migrant workers.
If not imposed for long, travel bans can trap migrants in hotspots long enough to expose them to the virus, and then let them take it with them back home.
12 May 2021
A large number of migrant workers arriving from Maharashtra rest outside Patna Junction railway station, on 10 April. In comparison to the first exodus of migrant workers in March 2020, this time, the Bihar government seems even more ill prepared to test and monitor returning residents. Santosh Kumar / Hindustan Times / Getty Images
A large number of migrant workers arriving from Maharashtra rest outside Patna Junction railway station, on 10 April. In comparison to the first exodus of migrant workers in March 2020, this time, the Bihar government seems even more ill prepared to test and monitor returning residents. Santosh Kumar / Hindustan Times / Getty Images
As states impose fresh lockdowns of varying durations and intensity to arrest the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study shows that medium-duration travel bans are counterproductive they trap migrants in cities that are COVID-19 hotspots long enough to expose them to the virus, which they then carry to their home districts. These findings are based on the study of return migration out of Mumbai between March and August 2020, covering the first national lockdown and the subsequent unlock phases. The study also took into account the epidemiological data on the rise in infections in the home districts of the migrant workers.