Kolkata: With the city`s Metro Railway
emerging as a suicide point with nine deaths this year, the
authorities have set up CCTVs on platforms to keep an eye on
passengers behaving erratically.
A host of screens at the railway`s security control
room monitor platforms on the Metro Railway while there are 20
hotlines to stations where quick response teams have been
stationed to respond to anyone attempting to take the fatal
plunge.
"Each CCTV on the platforms monitor people’s movement.
Cameras can even zoom in on the passengers if they are seen to
behave abnormally. If a passenger is spotted loitering about
for 15 to 20 minutes without boarding trains, RPF personnel
are alerted," a senior Metro official told a news agency.
The authorities have video recordings of past suicides
on the tracks which have been viewed for tell-tale signs
before a suicide.
"We cannot read people`s minds, but erratic behaviour
such as restlessness before the arrival of a train and hanging
around on the stairs and platforms can tip us off about a
would be suicide," he said.
There were, however, logistical problems for the Quick
Response Teams to respond in an emergency.
PTI
