The Delhi Metro, considered the lifeline of the national capital region, has seen over 135 suicide cases in the last four years, according to data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Goverment of India.
The Delhi Metro recorded 150 cases of suicides or attempt to suicide cases by people jumping on the tracks between 2014 o 2017. This year, more than 10 cases of attempt to suicide were reported from the Delhi Metro, in which eight people lost their lives. In July this year, the Delhi police registered four cases of suicide in the Delhi Metro.
According to sources in Delhi Metro and Delhi Police, the blue line and yellow line, which connect the East and West of Delhi and the North and South of Delhi respectively, witnessed the most number of cases of suicides or attempt to suicides in the Delhi Metro.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for maintaining security at the Delhi Metro, has said that the CISF has increased its vigil at Metro station premises and is constantly monitoring CCTV cameras across all stations to ensure that such incidents are curbed. A CISF official said: “Our teams at the Metro stations survey the platforms at regular intervals. We have trained our staff to pick up signals and body language of people who could be potentially trying to attempt suicide by jumping in front of a train. We also have our CCTV cameras monitored round the clock and any information of such attempts is addressed at the earliest. We have tried to thwart as many attempts as possible, but at times, it becomes difficult because it is done very spontaneously.” Delhi Metro said that all train operators have been asked to be vigilant to try and apply emergency brakes if any such incident is sensed. A Delhi Metro official said: “We have deployed queue managers at crowded stations to take care of such incidents. Platform screen doors have been put in place in some stations in the yellow line.”