Close to three days after the three-train collision in Odisha’s Balasore district claimed 275 lives
The Railways ministry on Sunday sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into one of the deadliest railway tragedies in recent times. The Railways has ruled out driver error and system malfunctioning, indicating possible ‘sabotage’ and tampering of the electronic interlocking system.
After conducting a review of the restoration work at the site of the triple train collision in Balasore on Sunday, the railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the “root cause” of the accident and the “criminals” responsible for it have been identified.
On Friday evening, three trains collided one after another in a horrific sequence in Balasore district. The crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train occurred around 7 pm near the Bahanaga Bazar station, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.
The horrific accident happened when the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, headed towards Chennai, derailed. It collided with a goods train on the adjacent track, causing the rear carriage of the Coromandel Express to veer off onto the third track. The Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, coming from the opposite direction on the third track, rammed into the derailed coaches.
Seventy-one coaches of two passenger trains were derailed and bloodied and disfigured bodies lay enmeshed with each other, creating a grotesque sight. Around 200 bodies so far remain unidentified. The NDRF, ODRAF, police, fire service units and volunteers raced against time to save survivors and the search and rescue operation continued for around 15 hours, after which the restoration work commenced.
The toll in the triple-train crash was revised on Sunday from 288 to 275 due to the double counting of some bodies, Odisha Chief Secretary PK Jena said.
Altogether, 260 people, who were injured in the triple train accident in Balasore, are currently undergoing treatment in various hospitals across Odisha, while around 900 have been discharged so far, health department officials said on Sunday. The horrifying and disturbing visuals on social media showed piles of bodies and bloodbaths on railway tracks.
RESTORATION WORK DONE, FIRST TRAIN RUNS
The restoration work on the track went on for about 51 hours and the first train movement resumed on the down line of Bahanagar Bazar station at 10.40 pm.
The Ministry of Railways tweeted, “First train movement started after 51 hours of derailment on the down line at Bahanga Bazar near Balasore in Odisha. A coal-loaded train is headed from Vizag to Rourkela along this route.”
Barely two hours after the restoration of the downline, the down line was also restored. “Down-line restoration complete. First train movement in section,” tweeted Ashwini Vaishnaw. The minister had set the deadline for Wednesday morning and movement of trains resumed before the set target.
The Railway Board on Sunday held a press conference on the Balasore train accident and said that there were some issues with the signalling and only Coromandel Express met with an accident in Balasore.
When asked if Kavach could have prevented the accident, she said,” If an obstruction comes suddenly in front of a high-moving vehicle, then no technology in the world would prevent an accident.”
A preliminary report has stated that Coromandel Express had entered the loop line at the station on which a stationary iron ore-laden goods train was parked.
The railways on Sunday said the Coromandel Express was “not over-speeding” and received the green signal to enter a loop line on which a goods train was stationary.
“In both the trains, there was no question of over-speeding. Preliminary findings suggest that there was a signalling issue,” Member of Operation and Business Development Jaya Varma Sinha said.
PM MODI VOWS STRICT ACTION
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inspected the triple train accident site and took stock of the relief operations. PM Modi promised stringent action against any person found guilty for the triple train accident and after inspecting the site, he also met the victims at Balasore hospital.
Speaking of the accident, PM Modi said he had “no words” to express the pain. “Let Almighty give us strength to overcome this situation”. He also expressed his gratitude to locals for all the help in rescuing people, many of whom worked through the night.
Before leaving for the accident site, PM Modi chaired a meeting where he was briefed about the aspects relating to rescue, relief and medical attention to those affected.
Prior to PM Modi’s visit, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik also undertook an on-the-spot inspection of the tragedy and conveyed his deep sympathy to the bereaved families and wished speedy recovery of the injured persons.
COMPENSATION ANNOUNCED FOR VICTIMS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ashwini Vaishnaw and the Odisha government have announced compensation for the victims.
“An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased in the train mishap in Odisha. The injured would be given Rs 50,000,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Meanwhile, Vaishnaw took to Twitter to share that the families of those deceased would receive a compensation amount of Rs 10 lakh, those with grievous injuries Rs 2 lakh and those who suffered minor injuries Rs 50,000.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of those killed in the triple train accident at Bahanga Bazar near Balasore.
The assistance will be given from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
The next of kin of the deceased will get an assistance of Rs 5 lakh and those who sustained serious injuries will get Rs 1 lakh as assistance, a statement issued by the CMO said.
SPECIAL TRAINS BEING RUN
Officials of the South Central Railway (SCR) arranged special trains to shift the injured and other passengers stranded at the accident spot.
East Coast Railway has decided to run three special trains between Puri and Howrah to facilitate passengers as after the recent derailment, train services have been affected in Bhadrak-Kharagpur Railway Section on the Howrah-Chennai Main Line, an official statement said on Sunday.
PIL IN SUPREME COURT
A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Centre to set up an inquiry commission headed by a retired apex court judge to probe the Odisha train accident.
The plea states that the expert commission must analyse and review the risk and safety parameters in the railway system and must suggest systematic safety modifications for strengthening the railway safety mechanism and submit its report to the court.
The plea also submitted that non-implementation of Kavach system at the earliest has resulted in a massive loss of life and damage of public property which imputes direct liability of gross negligence and breach of duty of care by respondent authorities.
OPPOSITION CALLS FOR RAIL MINISTER’s RESIGNATION
The opposition parties have demanded the resignation of Ashwini Vaishnaw over the Odisha rail tragedy. They also attacked PM Modi, saying he should accept part of the responsibility for creating an “all is well” facade even as the critical infrastructure of the Indian Railway “languishes in neglect”.
It also asked who is responsible for ignoring the warnings and suggestions of experts, the parliamentary committee and CAG report.
The BJP asked opposition parties to not politicise the Balasore train accident and said the track record of the Congress-led UPA government’s railway ministers was nothing short of a disaster.
BJP IT department head Amit Malviya shared on Twitter what he said were the details of accidents under these ministers and added such “worthies” are the ones demanding the resignation of the “most qualified” railway minister the country has had in seven and half decades.
Hitting back, Malviya said, “Stop politicising the unfortunate Balasore tragedy because track record of railway ministers, under the UPA, to put it mildly, was nothing short of disaster. Let us focus on relief and rescue operation and putting life and rail back on track, at the earliest.”
SERIOUS FLAWS WERE FLAGGED
In February, the chief operating manager of the South Western Railway Zone had warned about ‘serious flaws in the signalling system’. He had raised concerns about failure of the interlocking system in February and highlighted the need for safety measures to be taken.
In a letter accessed by India Today, the principal chief operating manager of South Western Railway zone on February 9 raised concerns of signal failure of an express train which was averted due to the alertness of a loco pilot.
South Western Railways in a statement said the concerned staff had not observed proper procedure while attending to repair/maintenance of signalling gear.