31% of railway accident deaths in 17 years in Mumbai remain unidentified: Data

Indian Express

6 days ago

In the past 17 years, from 2008 to 2024, over 50,000 people have lost their lives in railway accidents across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, according to data obtained by a Right to Information (RTI). Of these, 15,725 people, nearly one in every three, remain unidentified and unclaimed, the RTI data stated.
The unclaimed bodies include homeless individuals, daily wage earners, mentally unwell persons, and migrant labourers, said Government Railway Police (GRP) officials, who are meant to be dealing with these cases. 'When we do come across an unidentified body after an accident, our usual practice is to hold it at the morgue for seven days. But depending on circumstances, we try to hold it for 30 or even 45 days if there is a possibility of identification,' a senior GRP officer told The Indian Express.
Pictures of the victims are shared among police circles all over Maharashtra, personal belongings are screened, fingerprints are taken, and attempts are made to cross-check with any police records. Hair, nails, or tissue samples are even saved for DNA matching in some instances. Yet, most bodies remain unidentified despite this.
From GRP reports, the circumstances of the victims usually make the identification difficult. 'A majority of them are ragpickers, beggars or mentally ill individuals with nothing on them to identify them. Frequently, there is no phone, no ID, nobody to inquire about them,' the official explained. Some bodies are injured beyond recognition so visual identification becomes impossible.
A few years ago, the GRP maintained a site, 'Shodh,' that posted pictures and information about unidentified victims of accidents. It served to trace missing family members, but the initiative later closed down.
Even though they remain anonymous in death and life, the GRP tries to treat unclaimed bodies with respect. After all efforts to identify them fail, cremation is performed, and a cash memo is drafted with the costs incurred. The bodies are cremated based on religious identity, wherever possible.
Medical institutions, once in a while, ask to use the unclaimed bodies for study. The GRP provides temporary custody for research, provided that the body will be returned in the same condition for decent cremation afterwards.
Nevertheless, a few instances of success exist. 'In just 5 to 10 per cent of the instances, the families come looking for their missing loved ones after the cremation has already been done. They were usually abandoned in the first place, or even their families do not know they are gone,' a Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel said.
Rail activist Samir Zaveri, who lost his legs in a suburban train crash decades ago, has been agitating for railway safety and accountability for decades. He believes that the figures only show half the picture. 'Most people who travel on the railway system are from weaker sections of society. They might not have any close relatives in Mumbai. If they die, there is no one to look for them,' he said.
It is not just a matter of missing people, but also the system not having identification tools that help, said Zaveri. 'Much of these deaths could have been recorded better, and the dead could have been identified if we used the technology smartly,' he said.
Aadhaar Access Could Help, Say Police
Identification could become easier and faster if law enforcement agencies could get Aadhaar biometric data accessible to them, says GRP.
According to the officials, with the Aadhaar Act, 2016, in place, the police may not be allowed to access the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) database directly. However, police are of the view that a middle path could be found.
'We don't want complete access. But if Aadhaar officials can come to our morgues with biometric machines in their bags and confirm identities by fingerprints, it would save us time, effort, and money,' a senior GRP inspector said, requesting anonymity.
The possible advantages being obvious, some of the victims who end up on the tracks might have signed up for an Aadhaar. The scanning of their fingerprints might bring up their identity instantly, enabling the police to alert their family members and put an end to a death that would be otherwise reduced to a statistic in an annual report.
Zaveri said the authorities need to use a portable biometric device with Aadhaar-linked fingerprint and iris recognition software. 'This would verify identity on the spot. It will provide dignity to the deceased and closure to their families, wherever they may be,' he added.
The present system is one of manual coordination between GRP, hospitals, and municipal bodies. There is no standard cremation cost. It will depend on the ambulance fee, storage charges, and crematorium fees. All this is coordinated by GRP officers who have to keep a database of the dead, complete with photos and fingerprints, even after they have been cremated.
In extremely rare instances, families do appear once the last rites have been carried out. In those situations, the GRP makes reference to the records, items, and biological specimens stored in anticipation of future identification.
Recognising the issue, a senior official from Central Railway said, 'This is a humanitarian concern that requires technological help and coordination between agencies. The objective should be not to let any death remain unrecognised.'
Recently, there has also been a decrease in the number of unclaimed bodies left behind. The RPF officials maintain that steps like fencing, CCTV monitoring, and longer foot overbridges have minimised trespassing-related deaths and dwelling on the tracks.
'The number of ragpickers and homeless people near the railway tracks has decreased in recent times, and hence their deaths have come down, bringing down the untraced bodies,' an RPF officer added.
But deaths from overcrowding, falls while boarding or getting off moving trains, and trespassing also continue. Unless systemic changes are made, including investments in identification systems and improved coordination, the issue of unclaimed deaths will persist, experts said. 'Every human being who dies should have a name, a family and dignity in death. The system needs to change to allow that,' Zaveri added.