MillenniumPost
Delhi

Sudden surge in suicide attempts at Metro tracks

New Delhi: On Monday, another man, who retired as section officer, jumped in front of Delhi Metro in Sector 7 Dwarka and was admitted in serious condition to DDU. By evening as his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to Safdarjung. This incident has sent alarm bells ringing through the entire DMRC as there is a sudden surge in the incidents where people have either attempted or committed suicide by jumping in front of Delhi metro.

On Sunday, a man jumped in front of a moving metro at Rohini east metro station, was badly injured. On Saturday, a 77-year-old man jumped at Tilak Nagar in front of the metro train. On Wednesday, an elderly resident jumped in front of Ramesh Nagar metro station. Earlier, a 32-year-old businessman was seriously injured after he allegedly attempted suicide by jumping before a moving train at another metro station.

On April 4, a 46-year-old Delhi Police ASI had also allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train at the Jahangirpuri metro station.

Officials believe that a coordinated effort is needed from all departmenets like DMRC, CISF, Delhi Police and other players like the NGOs to curb this menace. "A driver hardly gets the required reaction time if a man who has officially bought the token to travel decides to jump in front of the train when it is 20 or 50 metres away. It is very difficult even for normal passengers to avert this action in a fraction of a second," said an officer talking to Millennium Post.

Though some metro stations have put up platform screen doors ( PSDs ) which act as a partition between the platforms and the track area, and only open and close when a train arrives and departs. These were built to minimise accidental chances of people falling on the tracks and also to discourage people using metro tracks as suicide points. However, many stations remain without PSDs. Though DMRC has done much it could to curb suicides at Metros, but it seems a wider strategy is needed together with coordinated efforts of the departments involved in planning and security of the metros.

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