Payoshi Bisht, Pune
As per the information disseminated by the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Pune railway station has recorded the highest incidents of alarm chain pulling this year. From January to August, around 400 cases were reported at the station, which raises issues regarding the misuse of the emergency chain system. This figure is in line with the trend that was noticed a year ago, which was around 570 chain-pulling cases for Pune.
The Ahmednagar and Daund railway stations have also reported numbers with 172 and 134 cases respectively. These stations, which were part of the Solapur division until April, have formed part of a more general trend of alarm chain pulling within the Pune division. Alarm chain pulling and stoning windows of trains are the other two regular offences that are dealt with by the RPF, as pointed out by Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Pune Division, Priyanka Sharma.
Sharma has said that pushing the alarm chain (which is meant for emergencies) without justifiable grounds is illegal as per the Railways Act of 1989, Section 141 on alarm chain pulling. She added that offenders may be given a term of no less than a year, a fine of Rs 1,000 or even both, according to the situation.
To prevent these occurrences, the RPF has intensified monitoring activities in the Pune division. Sharma maintained that the RPF, being equipped with technology, is also able to trace the offenders in no time. She explained that, upon pulling the alarm chain, an emergency alarm indicator inside the impacted coach is activated the moment pressure is lost. In case of LHB coaches, only an ancillary facility-mounted LED light on a wall inside the inner cabin or toilet begins to flash during a given bang action so that it is easier to know the location of it.
While the RPF considers the prevention of any further delay of the train as the most important issue, they have to listen to many other complaints that come from the passengers via the Rail Madad application. Sharma says that, mostly, such complaints are concerning the luggage which has been misplaced or left behind and hardly of any serious crime.