By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Only few years ago, the Union Minister of Railways had claimed in the Parliament of India that they made railway journey safe, though the trains were running late in the country. The claim had come in reply to a question as to why trains were being run late. The Minister had blamed worsening of the railway tracks and the systems due to negligence in refurbishing them in the earlier UPA regime before 2014. The minister also had claimed that Modi government was working hard to have a secure railway system, but the Balasore deadly train accident proved it wrong.
Balasore train accident is one of the worst in the railways history, and the worst since the 1980s. On the basis of preliminary enquiry, Union Minister of Railways said that the accident occurred due to error in electronic signalling system which led to death of 275 people and left over 1100 injured. Whether the error was human or technical is yet to be ascertained, and even sabotage is not ruled out.
Only three days after this tragedy a goods train has been reported derailed in Odisha. Both indicate about worsened railway network system in the country. Ministry of Railways said that it was not theirs but a private track, a statement that should be taken seriously, since by saying this the government tries to shift its responsibility, at a time when Modi government is making all efforts to privatize railway networks, tracks, stations, and trains. It brings the issue of safety of people in the forefront.
The Friday’s train accident involving two packed passenger express trains and a stationary freight train has sparked anger across the country against the mismanagement of the countries massive rail network, which is the fourth largest in terms of the rail network in the world, the largest in Asia, and the second largest in the world in one management, with 108,706 km of railway track. It serves 22 million people every day, running 11,000 trains daily of which 7000 are passenger trains.
Trains could be resumed on the route of the accident following 51 hours of restoration work. Repair works are still being carried out on third day 60 hours after the accident, when a high-speed passenger train packed with people rammed into a goods train stationed in the loop line.
The preliminary investigation into the incident suggests that incorrect signalling caused one of the high-speed passenger trains to divert onto the wrong track and collide with the stationary train, before another high-speed passenger train on an adjacent track hit the derailed coaches of the first train.
Railway officials have said that a signal was given to the high-speed Coromandel Express to run on the main track line, but the signal later changed, and the train instead entered an adjacent loop line where it rammed into the goods train loaded with iron ore. The Collision flipped the Coromandel Express’s coaches onto the other track on which Yesvantpur-Howrah Express collided and derailed. Both the trains were carrying2,296 passengers at the time of the accidents, and it may be possible that there might be more passengers without reservation. We will have therefore to wait for the final data on casualties.
Prime Minister had visited the site of accident, and the Union Minister of Railways used that occasion to praise him is most shocking because it was not an occasion to divert energy is praising Narendra Modi but putting all efforts entirely in the rescue and restoring operation. Perhaps, the Union Minister of Railways was more interesting in saving his portfolio as minister as his resignation has been demanded on moral ground of the responsibility.
“The way the prime minister came to this site and led us, inspired the team, it strengthened the team and they worked day and night on a war footing to restore the system in 51 hours. As you saw, three trains have gone and seven are planned in total tonight. We have to take it towards normalisation,” the Union Minister of Railways said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is currently in the United States, has called for resignation of the Union Minister of Railways, and criticized the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for not taking responsibility for the worst disasters in the history of the Indian Railways.
Electronic interlocking system for signalling railway traffic is a modern system and has been considered error proof until now. It is an upgradation from earlier un-interlocked signalling system. The present system is based on software which makes any modification easy without the need for any wiring changes. Therefore, the error in this system is a serious concern since all railway traffic in India is controlled by it.
It is why the India Railways has ordered for a high-level probe to ascertain the real cause of the error that led to this fatal accident. On Sunday, it was suggested that it may not be merely an act of system error, but may be an act of sabotage. Therefore, the India Railways has also sought a CBI inquiry into the accident, indicating that the electronic interlocking system could have been tampered.
Most important fact is that the large number of deaths were caused by negligence as is mentioned in the FIR on this accident registered by Odisha police. The case is most likely to be taken over by CBI. According to sources, a CBI team would reach the spot of the accident by June 6.
It must also be noted that India has also developed an indigenous train protection system named “Kavach”. However, in the age of cut and commission, the system is not put in place and other systems were purchased and installed instead. Kavach was also not available on the route of the accident, according to railway officials.
Since railway accidents in India is still high, it goes without saying that Indian Railways have failed in meeting even its own target on passenger safety. Modi government’s claim on railway passenger safety is bogus since India suffered 17,993 railway accidents alone in 2021, which resulted in death of 16,431 people, though the government claims 53 per cent decline in consequential train accidents during 2017-18 to 2021-22.
Negligence in Indian Railways has also been pointed out by CAG which reported that between 2017 and 2021, nearly half of the overall required number of tracks inspections were not done. Non inspection ranged from 30 to 100 per cent. It also said, “Non-deployment of TRCs over planned sections, as per schedule, led to non-checking of track parameters having implications on overall safety of train operations including derailments.” (IPA Service)
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