Mumbai railway deaths, injuries lowest in 2020-21: Praja Foundation

MUMBAI: Accidental deaths and injuries on Mumbai railways were lowest in 2020-21 compared to the four years before it, data released by non-profit Praja Foundation showed.
About 370 lives were lost and 269 commuters were injured on the city's lifeline in 2020-21.
While the low numbers appear to be a direct impact of the pandemic-induced lockdown, accidental deaths have been steadily declining annually right since 2017-18.
Railways has attributed the reduction to a host of safety measures.
Data with Praja Foundation shows that 65% of accidental deaths in 2020-21 were caused due to track crossing.
A majority among these were 65 deaths in Dahisar-Ram Mandir stations and 68 deaths in Kurla-Mulund stations.
However, a majority of injuries to commuters were caused by falling off running trains (36% cases).
Crimes on the railways also reduced drastically by a drastic 92% in 2020-21 as compared to the financial year before it.
Restricted services in the pandemic are a key reason. Maximum crimes reported in 2020-21 were thefts (1191 cases) followed by dacoities and robberies (197 cases). Till 2015, Maharashtra Railway Police would record lost belongings as "missing complaints."
But they have since made a major change in their recording process and have begun registering lost belongings as thefts.
As a result, the number of theft FIRs is enormous in Maharashtra as compared to any other Indian state.