Rail cracks, old woman undrapes the red sari to warns the danger, avoids catastrophe

In Uttar Pradesh, a major train accident was averted due to the timely intervention of a 70-year-old woman. The incident took place near the Kusba railway station, about 20 km from the district headquarters in Etah. A woman named Omvati, who found the railway tracks broken, pulled off her red sari and tied it at both ends of the track, signaling danger to the locopilot. The locopilot saw this and stopped the train. The rational intervention of that intelligent woman saved many lives.

Omvati lives in the village of Guleria in the Avagar block of Etah district. As they were going to work in the field as usual, they noticed a large crack in the railway track. They know there is not much time left for the train to arrive. They looked around to see if there was anything that could signal danger. Nothing found. Then Omvati decided to untie the red sari she was wearing and tie it to the sides of the tracks. Then, they cut the stems of a nearby tree and stuck them on both sides of the track and tied their red saris in it. The train sped by the waiting time. It was a passenger train from Etah to Tundla. However, the locopilot saw the red cloth across the rails and realized the danger and applied the brakes. Thus a great tragedy was averted.

The driver of the passenger train, who later saw that the track was damaged, informed his seniors and they reached the spot and repaired the tracks. An hour after the repairs were made, the train resumed its journey. Omvati said she was aware that red was a sign of danger and had untied her sari and tied it to the track to warn the driver of the danger. The train driver congratulated Omvati for saving the lives of many and presented her with a gift of Rs 100 as a reward for her good deeds. But they accepted it only after much persuasion.

Meanwhile, Sachin Kaushik, a police officer from Uttar Pradesh, praised the woman’s presence on social media and shared the incident. “While going to work in the field in the morning Omvaticame across the broken rail track. When the train started coming, she undraped her red sari she was wearing and kept it across the track with a stick as a sign of danger” Sachin Kaushik tweeted. Thus incident came to light and people praised the old man’s brave move and intelligent intervention.

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