A Tamil Nadu born electronics and communication engineer, who could not get a job in his State despite years of waiting, has come out with an innovation which he claims would make Indian Railways richer by crores.
Selvaraj Shivaguru (42) has perfected and developed a technology with which the loco pilot, train ticket examiners and the guard can pinpoint the compartment and bay from where the alarm chain was pulled to stop the train. The Alarm Chain System presently in operation is misused in a wilful manner by anti- social elements across the country causing delay of hundreds of trains per day.
"The alarm chain system technology being used now is an outdated and cumbersome mechanism. Anyone can pull the chain and get out of the compartment. The loco pilots and guards have to walk the entire stretch of the train to identify the compartment from where the chain was pulled. By the time they identify the compartment, the person who pulled the chain would have reached his destination," Shivaguru told The Pioneer.
Shivaguru’s prototype has a series of LED lamps attached to each bay and compartment of the train. "The device will sound an alert and it would emit light to attract the attention of the Railway Staff towards the bay and coach from where the chain was pulled. This will help the crew easily identify the coach and resolve the issue," said Shivaguru.
He says it would cost Rs 10 lakh to fix the alert in each bay and compartment of the train.
The importance of the device can be gauged by a press release issued by Indian Railways last year. "The Southern Railway collected as penalty Rs 7.11 lakh in 2021-22 from 1,043 people for unauthorised chain pulling. There were 1,400 such incidents in Southern Railway alone," said Shivaguru.
He has submitted the details of the innovation to the National Innovation Portal administered by the Government of India to help innovators like him.