A matter of urgency

Week in and week out, we either witness ourselves or hear from others about a commuter losing his balance while either getting into a local train or while hanging on to the footboard or even while alighting at a station. People do fall because of several reasons and one can only hope the damage is minimum—if not fatal. According to the Kakodkar Committee, around 15000 people got killed last year due to trespassing on rail tracks in the country, out of which 6000 occurred in Mumbai alone. Be it any report, this city boasts of maximum railway causality by design. A reality resonant enough to make the authorities realise that urgency matters when a commuter has slipped or tripped. But more often than not, help arrives just like monsoon in India. Delayed and depleted. However, there was some improvisation last week as i saw people gather to save a life. People gather anyway. But it was more heartening to see how the railway workers responded on Platform no. 5 to a man who was unfortunate enough to fall from a running train. The stretcher was immediately called upon and the wounded man was provided relief. We can only hope this instance isn't a rarity.