Mumbai: 25-yr-old electrocuted by new 25,000-volt wires on Harbour line

A 25yearold man from Pune got the shock of his life when he climbed up on the roof of a CSTPanvel train and was electrocuted by the 25000 volt running through the overhead wires This came as a terrible jolt to the Central Railway which converted its Harbour line from the 1500volt DC system to the nearly 17 times stronger Alternating Current just two days agoAlso Read 19yrold travelling on train top electrocutedRooftop travelling is a regular menace on the Harbour line but has become particularly dangerous now since the conversion to the more powerful 25000volt electrical system File pic for representationThis is the first such incident since the electrical conversion on Saturday night but rooftop travelling is a regular problem on the Harbour line so CR was already prepared The railway authorities had deployed extra police personnel to curb the problem at five stations that are particularly notorious for rooftop travelling But Mohammad Waris Shaikh managed to foil all their efforts and suffered 90 burns for itMohammad Waris Shaikh had come to Mumbai a fortnight ago and boarded the train to visit a relativeShaikh did not seem to comprehend what had happened when midday visited him at Rajawadi Hospital where he is now under treatment The first thing he asked this reporter was to take a picture of him so he could see what his face looked like after the accidentShaikh hails from Uttar Pradesh and works at a salon in Pune while his wife resides in their hometown He had come to Mumbai a fortnight ago to visit his relatives ldquoI was staying at my maternal auntrsquos house in Govandi and decided to visit another aunt in Sion before I went back to UP So I boarded the train on Monday morning and decided I would change trains at Kurla stationrdquo he saidVideoMan atop Mumbai local gets electrocutedThe train was completely packed and Shaikh clambered onto the roof ldquoAs the train reached Tilak Nagar I started to climb back down so I could get off at Kurla I donrsquot remember what exactly happened but I felt the current from the wires pulling me closer and then I fell unconscious I woke up in hospitalrdquo he recalledSources from CR said this was exactly what they had feared as the 25000volt system is very powerful and can exert a pull on a person standing even two to three feet away And since it holds greater voltage the new system is also more likely to result in fatal electrocutionldquoTo prevent this we had formed teams at five stations where rooftop travelling is prevalentrdquo said S Bhalode senior divisional railway commissioner Mumbai Since Sunday six staffers were posted at Govandi four at Mankhurd two at Vashi Tilak Nagar and Chunabhatti stations Their job was to bring down any rooftop travellers spottedHowever officials said that many times offenders run on the roof to escape the cops ldquoAt times these offenders climb the rooftop once the train has left the station and is in motionrdquo said another RPF officer In such cases the officers warn their colleagues at the next station In this case Shaikh was also warned about the danger by other commutersRPF officers said their constables had heard other commuters shout at Shaikh asking him to come down from the rooftop He was sitting on the third coach from the Panvel end when he came in contact with the overhead cable and got a strong jolt This incident happened at 1158 am after which the train was stalled till he was brought down and sent to hospital at 1210 pm His aunt from Govandi Diljaha Shaikh said she received a call from a police constable at 1230 pm inform her about the accident ldquoShaikh was about to take a train to UP on Monday night That morning he told me he was going out for some work and would return soon I warned him to stay at home but he left anyway and the accident took placerdquo she addedA doctor from Rajawadi Hospital told this paper ldquoThe patient was electrocuted and brought with burn injuries He is at present stable and can speak He is being kept under observationrdquo