India, March 27 -- Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday held a workshop with officials from all railway zones and directed them to work out a plan to construct subways around settlement areas to ensure people can cross tracks safely. The Railway Ministry has planned to cover all settlement areas in the vicinity of railway tracks across the country in the next five to six years, according to an official statement.

Vaishnaw asked the officials to design subways in such a way that people feel free to use them and these subways should not face waterlogging during the rainy season.

"These subways will be built near settlements where locals have to cross the tracks frequently for their day-to-day activities. The initiative has been t...