Kolkata Metro rolls out posters to stop suicides

Kolkata: To raise awareness and prevent suicides at metro stations, the Kolkata Metro Railway has launched a new anti-suicide campaign by strategically placing posters with powerful messages at various stations along the Dakshineswar-Kavi Subhash (Blue Line) corridor.

The campaign features colourful posters urging passengers to reconsider suicide and recognise the value of life. Some of the messages include: ‘Life is a journey: don’t end this precious gift early,’ ‘Think twice before you end all,’ ‘Your life is precious, never give up,’ and ‘You have your family waiting at home, think about them.’ These posters are being placed on track-side walls at different stations.

Currently, the posters have been placed at Girish Park and Kalighat stations, with plans to extend the initiative to other stations along the Blue Line in future.

“These posters are strategically placed to be easily visible from the platforms and discourage impulsive actions before someone attempts suicide by jumping in front of incoming trains,” said a spokesperson of Metro Railway. The posters are being installed after commercial hours at night.

In recent times, there have been several incidents of passengers attempting suicide by jumping in front of incoming trains along the Blue Line. In response, Metro authorities began installing guardrails along the platform edges at Kalighat station as a precautionary measure.

Initially, seven steel guardrails, each 4 feet tall, were placed, with plans to install a total of 31 guardrails at Kalighat.

Authorities also planned to expand this installation to other stations after monitoring the situation and gathering feedback from passengers.

However, sources said that due to logistical challenges, progress on this project has been slow.