I was shocked to see railway linemen working at Madgaon Station with their bare hands sans any safety gear, no proper harness, no gloves, no insulated rubber shoes, no reflective jacket etc.
They were repairing a high tension electrical line on the tracks. Are the poor souls' lives so expendable or is it that the Indian Railways is so short of funds that they are not able to provide at least basic safety gear to its workers.
All across the railway overbridge over the tracks there are signs with the skull and crossbones logo warning passengers against high voltage wires, but does it not apply to your own workmen?
I shudder to think the consequences of a mishap, this is rank bad practice and the contractor / officials concerned for permitting this should be blacklisted and suspended.
The Ministry of Railways should conduct a workers and equipment safety audit across all train stations in India and initiate corrective measures where required.
