Monday, November 17, 2008

Monochrome Monday #11

SUICIDAL BREEZE


MUMBAI LOCAL TRAIN IN MONOCHROME

I think I'm obsessed with Mumbai local train travel, and leave no opportunity to show it to my readers. This is another crowded Mumbai local train at peak hours. Look at the two young boys sitting on the train roof to enjoy fresh air and avoid the crowd.
When asked, a boy sitting on the roof of my compartment said he was smarter than the rest, and didn't want to choke inside the compartment.

Statistics reveal that more than 3500 people die on the Mumbai railway tracks every year. Shocking, isn't it?  It is believed to be the highest number of fatalities on any urban or suburban railway system.

Most of the deaths are of passengers crossing the railway tracks on foot, instead of using footover bridges provided for going from one platform to another, and are hit by passing trains. Some of the passengers die when they sit on train roofs to avoid crowds and are electrocuted by overhead electric wires, or hang from doors and even worse when they clasp the edge of the roof of the train and stand on window bars.

5 comments:

  1. Interesting that it is allowed.

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  2. apt title... as my friends from Mumbai would say, "Gardi" (crowd) is less today... just 2 people on the roof."

    nice shot.

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  3. I was only wondering the other day if this practice was still prevalent. You can't see older train shots without the outside hangers-on but I assumed it was no longer necessary.
    At least I am thinking pre-electrification days.

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  4. this gave me cold feet....the authorities should do something about it.

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