After Aurangabad tragedy, Goa intensifies rail tracks, tunnels monitoring
Panaji: A day after 16 migrant workers were run over by a goods train near Maharashtra’s Aurangabad region, Goa Police have upped monitoring of railway tracks in the state, especially rail tunnels, to prevent any potential mishap, a police official said on Saturday.
“We have formed a team. They are monitoring this with railway officials. Police officials are keeping track of tunnels and railway tracks. They are also provided with torches. They are continuously monitoring to ensure no one is on the tracks,” Superintendent of Police (Special Branch) Shobhit Saxena told reporters here.
Two major railway lines run through the state, namely the South Western and Konkan Railway, whose tracks criss-cross through the Western Ghats, through a network of tunnels.
Police in Goa, along with railway officials had already increased vigilance along the railway tracks last month, after several groups of persons were reported entering and exiting the state via railway tracks and by hiding in goods trains which ferry essentials in and out of Goa.
Saxena also said, that the state government had also taken the migrant population in Goa into confidence and assured them of a passage home.
“We have taken our migrant population in confidence and told them that one by one in a staggered manner, they will be sent home. There is no none walking on tracks as of now, and hopefully we will never have such an incident,” Saxena said.
More than 80,000 migrant workers have registered with the state government for a migrating back to their home states, primarily, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar.