2 CRPF personnel killed in Manipur’s Naransena in an attack by militants
Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel lost their lives in an attack by Kuki militants starting from Friday midnight at the Naransena area in Manipur, police said.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, 8 August
Citing an analysis done to know the pattern of accidents in railways, the minister of state for railways, Mr Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, informed the Lok Sabha today that manning unmanned railway crossings alone is not an ideal solution. Therefore, the railways has decided to progressively eliminate all unmanned railway crossings.
There are about 14,000 unmanned level crossings across the country. Railways has proposed elimination of 10,797 level crossings (LC) during the 12th Five Year Plan and not adding any new LC to the rail network henceforth, he said. Forty eight people lost their lives in accidents at unmanned level crossings during 2012-13, 31 people lost their lives in 2010-11, but the number rose to 115, almost four times, in 2011-12, in mishaps at unmanned level crossings, Mr Chwdhury said.
Railways has paid Rs 10.88 lakh compensation to families of victims of accidents at unmanned level crossings in 2012-13, while Rs 2.22 lakh was paid during 2011-12 and Rs 17.41 lakh in 2010-11.
There are 6,165 road overbridges and subways at level crossings being constructed at the moment.
However, Mr Choudhury said Railways has no statutory liability under the Railways Act, 1989, or Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, for payment of compensation in case of accidents at unmanned level crossings caused due to negligence of road vehicle users in which railway passengers are not involved.
He said elimination of all the unmanned level crossings is a gigantic task and would involve a lot of manpower, resources and budgetary support.
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