Alerted over the accident, which took place near Kanpur on Sunday killing 143 people, the Divisional Rail Manager (DRM) of Ranchi Rail Division has asked officials to check their overall preparedness in accident response system to deal with any such situation.
Accident Relief Trains and Medical Relief Vans were being checked throughout the day on Monday whether proper support system was present there and machines fitted in it were functional or not.
“Preparedness to deal with any such situation was being checked by the experts since 11 am on Monday where the accident relief trains and medical relief vans are being inspected whether they are were properly equipped to provide desired support system during the hour of need,” said Senior Divisional Commercial Officer of Ranchi Rail Division Neeraj Kumar.
In addition to that, mock drills related to accidents was continuously organized where a rescue team had come from Kolkata to provide support to the team operating here at Hatia Station. “Original situations were created here at Hatia Station where two trains were made to meet an accident following which the accident relief train along with a rescue train from Kolkata was rushed in to provide relief to the passengers,” said Kumar.
In order to minimize defects in the railway tracks, round the clock
patrolling was being done by the Gangmen, which was being monitored continuously by senior officials, said Kumar.
“The whole track is being replaced if even a hairline crack is detected in it though the ultrasound machines,” said the Senior DCM. In addition to that senior officials are also continuously monitoring the safety measures on railway tracks by physically inspecting the tracks wherever any doubt is raised by anyone, he added.
Meanwhile, regular practice of inspecting fish plates by the Gangmen was its place where it is replaced as and when any defect is found in it, said Kumar.
“All we can say that the overall preparedness of accident response system is being assessed by us to deal with any such situation, besides taking all precautions to avert any kind of accident,” said the senior DCM.
Fourteen coaches of the Indore-Rajendranagar Patna Express derailed in Kanpur in the wee hours of Sunday morning where at leat 143 lives were lost while more than 200 were injured. Commissioner of Railway Safety, Eastern,
P K Acharya, who was probing the accident, has been assigned to look into the possibility of a fracture in the tracks as a possible cause of the accident, which led to the coaches to not only go off the rails but pile up, leading to high casualties.