Cauvery protestors’ brush with death

Several Karnataka farmers, who had gathered on the railway tracks at the Srirangapatna to halt the Superfast Mysore-Chennai Express to register their protest against the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal’s final award, had a brush with death when the speeding train did not stop.

The farmers, who were squatting on the railway track on Wednesday evening after obtaining permission from the railway authorities to detain the train, were forced to run helter-skelter when they saw the train approach them with menacing speed.

While many protestors managed to escape with minor injuries, one farmer, who was lying across the tracks, could not run. But, he used his presence of mind to squeeze himself between the rails. Finally, the train came to a halt after five compartments passed over the farmer. Much to everyone’s relief, the dazed farmer Ramamurthy crawled out from under the train with minor injuries.

Enraged by the train driver’s negligence, the protestors pelted stones at the engine driver’s cabin and damaged the windshield. But, a posse of policemen along with Rapid Action Force (RAF) moved in quickly to prevent the situation from going out of hand. The angry protestors, however, detained the train for more than two hours by placing stones on the tracks.

Police said the protestors had intimated the Station Master at Srirangapatna that they were planning to detain the train. But, the Station Master had apparently failed to inform the driver of Shatabdi Express about the protest. The engine driver told the protestors that he had been shown the green signal to move on. Police said the incident had taken place due to a communication gap between the driver and railway authorities.