Cold wave snuffs out four lives in a week at Amritsar railway stations

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, January 23

Four persons, three of them unidentified, have died due to intense cold conditions at three railway stations in Amritsar district within a week.

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While two persons died at the Amritsar railway station, one each was found dead at the Verka and Kathunangal railway stations between January 15 and 21.

The deaths point to severe cold conditions in the district during the week as also failure of the Railways and the Government Railway Police in preventing unwanted people from entering railway stations and shifting them to shelter homes.

The average maximum temperatures in the district have remained below normal during the past one week. On January 18, the maximum temperature stood at 16°C, two degrees below normal, while the next day it dipped to 12.5°C, over five notches below normal. On January 20, it stood at 12.6°C, against the normal of 18.1°C, while on January 21, the maximum temperature plunged to 9.5°C, against the normal of 18.7°C, a deviation of over 9 degrees.

The body of an unidentified male, aged between 55 and 60 years, was found on January 15 at platform No. 1, while another unidentified male, aged between 50 and 55 years, was found dead in the general waiting hall on platform No. 1 on January 21 at the Amritsar railway station.

Similarly, the body of an unidentified male, aged between 55 and 60 years, was found at the Kathunangal railway station on January 16. Sonu (28), a resident of Dashmesh Nagar locality, was found dead at the Verka railway station on January 21.

While railway officials claim strict vigil to prevent unwanted people from entering the Amritsar railway station, homeless people manage to gain entry from gaps in the boundary wall. There is no boundary wall at the Verka and Kathunangal railway stations.

Balvir Singh Ghuman, SHO, GRP, Amritsar railway station, said their personnel kept strict vigil on railway properties and took homeless people to shelter homes whenever found. “However, they dodge security personnel by boarding trains, only to return after spending a few days at nearby railway stations,” he said, adding the bodies were kept at the mortuary for 72 hours as per norms.