Amritsar train tragedy

Kashmir Times. Dated: 10/22/2018 3:03:41 PM

The Railways and its safety apparatus cannot escape the blame for the accident which claimed at 60 lives on the train track

Deaths of at least 60 bystanders on the railways track at a manned crossing in Amritsar on Friday evening when they were watching Dussehra celebrations are both unfortunate and tragic. It is all the more tragic that the bystanders on the railway tracks were busy watching Dussehra celebrations just across the track when a speeding train ploughed into the crowd and left at least 60 persons dead and several others injured. Another passing train from the opposite direction further confounded the confusion after the accident. It is also unfortunate that the blame game began soon after the accident with the state government in Punjab and the Railways Minister of BJP-government passed the buck onto each other for the tragic deaths of the innocent people. The Railways minister washed his hands off the accident and blamed the people for standing on the railway tracks and the state government for not taking adequate safety measures for the Dussehra celebrations in the vicinity. Despite appeals from some political leaders for not politicising the accident, the ruling elite in both the state as well as the centre blamed each other for the mishap. Though an inquiry has been announced by the state government to find out the cause of the accident, the railways authorities have refused to initiate any inquiry and contemplate action against those found guilty of negligence that resulted in the mishap. So far, it is also sad that only 40 deceased have been identified and rest of the victims yet to be identified. In this case, most of those killed and those injured are most probably migratory labourers, who earn their living by working either with the railways or casual workers in the surrounding areas. This accident like others that have taken place in the past have put a big question mark on the safety measures claimed to have been put in place by the railways authorities to ensure safety of the people on the train tracks across the country. Snag in the railway tracks or negligence in managing the signal system have been blamed for the accidents in the past. In fact, in some cases, it has been found that adequate safety mechanism have failed and resulted in major accidents of trains in the past.
Apart from the blame game, the ruling dispensations appear to have refused to learn any lessons from the past experiences. The present central government has been making tall claims about making safety on train tracks and travel as a priority but as such during the past over four years, investments in safety equipments and modernization of the mechanism have been on the lower side. It is sad state of affairs that four railway ministers have been changed in as many years under the present dispensation and it does not appear to be serious in upgrading the railways network for making travel comfortable and safe in the past four years. It has been observed that immediately after every accident, the authorities have pledged to upgrade the safety mechanism but nothing concrete has happened on the ground. So far as inquiries are concerned, at least half a dozen train accidents in the past four years, the recommendations have not been made public or what action has been initiated is not known to the people. Unfortunately, prime minister Narendra Modi has been planning to run high speed bullet trains in India in selected corridors but no attention has been paid to the safety standards of the existing railways network. The high speed network requires tens of thousands of crores of Rupees investment, which is sufficient to upgrade the existing network for safety of the passengers and the railway tracks in the country. But, it is sad that introduction of high speed trains amounts to encouraging crony capitalism with favours to a few corporate houses instead of improving the existing network. The Japanese offer of building the Bullet Train corridor between Ahmedabad and Mumbai appears to have run in rough weather with many stakeholders refusing to but Narendra Modi's plans and dreams. At least in this case, the minimum the centre can do is to fix the accountability for the accident and take remedial measures instead of ignoring the realities on the ground. By doing so and initiating preventive measures, accidents can be checked in the future.

 

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