Why train accidents still ail Indian Railways
The Kuneru rail tragedy, involving the Hirakhand Express, in Vizianagaram district — a picturesque region of the Eastern Ghats barely 10km from the Odisha border — in which 41 died and at least ten others are battling for life in hospitals has raised many eyebrows.
It was here that the outlawed Maoists looted a train, carrying away Rs 15 lakh and killing three RPF security men on Christmas Day in 2005. The area remains part of the tri–junction of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chattisgarh where militants continue to enjoy steady support.
Both investigators of the NIA and the CB-CID of Andhra Pradesh led by ADGP Ch Dwarka Tirumala Rao and IGP Amit Garg have ruled out sabotage, at least for the time being, in the absence of forensic evidence to suggest use of explosives. They suspect weakening of tracks could also have led to the accident.
What makes it intriguing is that East Coast Railway divisional railway manager Chandralekha Mukherjee points out that two trains had passed the spot around 9pm and 10.45pm and that in between linemen had inspected the track too. He suggests that the mishap occurring at about 11.20pm is possibly not an accident but an incident suggesting sabotage.
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| Rapid action force team performs rescue operations after Hirakhand Express had an accident near Kuneru station in Vizianagaram. (PTI) |
Whether or not there was sabotage is a matter on which clarity will emerge only after a thorough inquiry.
The Hirakhand Express mishap is the third such horrific incident in the past three months. The Indian Railways safety record is pathetic. The vacancies in the post of safety officials put at risk the health of the rail network. There is a 24 per cent vacancy in the post of safety officials in the East Coast Railway zone alone. Overall, across the country, the posts of 1.42 lakh safety and surveillance personnel remain vacant indicating the continuing apathy.
Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu admitted recently that “chronic under investment and systemic issues” have affected the safety record. Statistics reveal that one of every three train mishaps is due to poor maintenance of tracks that were laid decades ago and that half the tragedies are derailments.
Safety is an annual ritual conducted as a drive during a specified fortnight and the safety hyperlink on the Railways website is a blank "under construction" page while the Indian Railways takes pride in being the largest network in the world with 12,000 trains ferrying two crore people every day.
Though there is a decline in the number of accidents and casualties over the years, 75 to 85 per cent of them happen every year due to derailment. The reason is the lack of adequate maintenance and track renewal.
While the traffic of passengers and freight over the railway network have increased by 1,344 per cent and 1,642 per cent, respectively, over the past 64 years, the route kilometres have grown only by 23 per cent.
It suggests that apart from adding pressure to existing tracks there is inadequate investment being made to renew rails or lay new lines.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)
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