Despite the claim of the Ministry of Railways that it is taking several measures to check and prevent cattle run over incidents, official data shows that since 2019, such instances have been increasing, with the year 2020-21 being an exception. Further, during this financial year up to January 23, at least 26,180 such instances were reported.
The data analysed by News18 shows that this year, on an average, per day there were nearly 90 cattle run over incidents with punctuality of almost 120 trains impacted.
According to ministry data presented in Rajya Sabha on Friday, in 2019-20, on an average there were 74 such incidents per day that dropped to 55 in 2020-21, the year that witnessed the outbreak of coronavirus. In 2021-22, as the world started going back to normal, the average number of cattle run over incidents were close to 79 per day and this year it has increased to nearly 90 each day.
The data shows that 35,734 trains lost punctuality this year up to January 23 due to cattle run over. The average number of trains that lost punctuality due to cattle run over incidents per day during 2019-20 were about 102. In 2020-21, it dropped to 65. The next year it increased to 99 and this year it was close to 120, the Rail Ministry data shows.
Between 2019-20 and January 23, 2022, 1.01 lakh incidents of cattle run over were reported across India that impacted the punctuality of 1.32 lakh trains. Taking the average, every day 73 cattle run over incidents were reported while the punctuality of about 95 trains were impacted in the last four years.
While these incidents have been impacting the punctuality of the trains, they did not dent the Railways much financially.
“All electric and diesel locomotives are provided with cattle guards for protecting locomotives from the cattle hits. Hence, the quantum of financial loss or amount spent on related damage/repair of such incidents is nominal,” the ministry added.
The Railways also said that it is taking various measures to prevent cattle run over incidents, including cleaning of garbage, removal of wild vegetation along the track and sensitisation of train crew on a regular basis for frequent whistling at locations prone for cattle/animal run over. The ministry is also constructing fencing/boundary walls at identified locations of trespass by cattle/animal and approaches of major towns.
Vande Bharat Impacted
A number of cattle run over incidents were also reported from the Mumbai-Ahmedabad stretch of the Vande Bharat train in the last few months.
Cattle run over incidents have caused damage to the replaceable nose cone of the leading driving trailer car in Vande Bharat trains, which is designed to absorb the shock in such cases without compromising passenger safety. Fencing work has been started on this route and is expected to be completed by May, according to the ministry.
934 people arrested
The ministry also revealed that between 2019 and 2022, 934 people have been arrested under sections 147 and 154 of the Railway Act, 1989. Section 147 is for trespassing and refusal to desist from trespassing while section 154 is related to endangering safety of persons traveling by railway by rash or negligent act or omission.
Of these 934, at least 791 were arrested under section 147 while another 143 were arrested under section 154. Also, at least 1,038 cases have been registered across India under these two acts between 2019 and 2022 – 812 cases under section 147 and 226 cases under section 154.
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