Author: Times News Network
Publication: Times of India
Date: November 28, 2010
Introduction: Bengal Motorman Dies On Reaching
Stn
A motorman of a Kolkata local, who felt a
cardiac attack coming, ignored his pain and continued to guide the train to
its destination where he collapsed and died.
D N Moitra (56) was in charge of the P-3 Panskura
local that left Howrah at 5.45 am. When the train reached its destination
at 7.35 am, a profusely sweating Moitra got out of his cabin and told guard
K Mandi and station staff that he was feeling extremely unwell. He was dead
by the time he was taken to a hospital. Senior South Eastern Railway officials,
while lauding Moitras exemplary devotion to duty, made it clear that there
was no possibility of an accident even if Moitra had died during the journey.
The train would have slowed down and stopped
by itself and the guard would have taken necessary measures to alert drivers
of trains nearby.
EMU locals move only if pressure is applied
on the Dead Mans Handle. Had Moitra passed away while driving the train, the
pressure on the lever would have eased and the train would have come to a
halt. The guard would immediately have been alerted. There was no possibility
of an accident, an official said. Moitra, a resident of Santragachhi in Howrah,
had undergone a medical examination that is required of all train drivers
over 55 years of age and was declared fit.
