Govandi station on the Harbour line has seen the maximum number of rooftop travellers since its conversion to Alternate Current (AC) and has now become a headache for the railway police.
Govandi station on the Harbour line has seen the maximum number of rooftop travellers since its conversion to Alternate Current (AC) and has now become a headache for the railway police.
Four out of five people who have died from being electrocuted from rooftop travelling in April are residents of Govandi and the railway police, which has been conducting awareness plans here as well as in Mankhurd, is at a loss at to what strategy to adopt.
The railway police has caught 115 rooftop travellers since the conversion to AC, which runs 25,000 volts through its overhead wire. “Out of the 115 that have been caught, most rooftop travellers are from Govandi and the remaining are from Mankhurd,” said Central Railway’s senior divisional security commissioner Sachin Bhalode.
This has caused the railways to double its team from five to seven constables on the station. “Almost 70 per cent of rooftop travellers are minors, so we have to handle the situation with even more finesse,” Mr Bhalode said. Harbour was converted to AC on April 11 in what is considered a historic move as it allows the railways to bring in new rolling stock on to the line, but it will take seven to eight years to phase out old rakes.
