In 2011-12, Indian Railways recorded about 15,000 deaths. Experts say almost 70 percent of these took place at unmanned railway crossings. That is a staggering 10,000 lives and yet, incidents like the one today, in Medak, continue to happen. Today, dozens of schoolchildren died when their schoolbus was rammed into by a speeding train at an unmanned crossing. In India, there are about 13,530 such unmanned crossings. While the Indian Railways does not divulge the actual number of deaths at unmanned level crossings, a rough calculation can help us understand the gravity of the situation. According to a high-level safety committee set up by the government of India earlier this year, Indian Railways recorded about 15,000 deaths in 2011-12. Experts say almost 70 ...

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