Upset by frequent train accidents, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu conveyed to General Managers (GMs) that there were no excuses for lapses and that responsibility and accountability had to be fixed. Two recent derailments, including that of a toy train in Himachal Pradesh last week prompted Prabhu to convene the high-level meeting to review safety.
Sources said that the Prime Minister’s Office had expressed concern over the deaths of two British nationals in the toy train derailment near Kalka that comes under Northern Railways. The accident showed Indian Railways in a poor light in the international media, at a time when the Railway Minister was on a week-long foreign tour seeking technological enhancement in Indian Railways.
GM of Northern Railway AK Puthia was asked by Prabhu and Chairman Railway Board AK Mittal to explain the reason behind the accident and action taken to prevent the repeat of such mishaps in his zone.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Railway Safety SK Pathak on Tuesday initiated an enquiry into the derailment of the toy train. In a stern message to the GMs, Prabhu said: “laxity on the safety front is not acceptable”. The Ministry also decided to seek Rs 1 lakh crore from the Finance Ministry for a safety upgrade.
Prabhu further emphasised the need to conduct strong safety audits at all levels on regular intervals and said
concrete action should be taken on those reports in a time-bound manner.
“Pull up your socks. Negligence and carelessness will not be tolerated. Safety is not negotiable. There should be safety audits at all levels and action taken on the audit reports should be followed up and monitored regularly,” Prabhu stated.
Ironically, while the meeting was in progress, another derailment happened in Mumbai. Seven coaches of a local train derailed between Andheri and Vile Parle stations in suburban Mumbai, disrupting traffic on the busy route linking Churchgate in South Mumbai to Virar.
“The immediate provocation for the GM-level meeting on safety was the bad Press Indian Railways got after two British tourists died in a toy train derailment under the Northern Railway zone,” said a Railway Board official.
According to data, as against 77 accidents last year the number stands 28 per cent lower at 54 this year. Mittal admitted that 40 per cent accidents happened due to human error which was avoidable. He also informed that 97 Indian Railway employees have been dismissed for serious lapses so far.
Addressing the GMs and other Railway Board officials, MoS Railways Manoj Sinha took strong exception to the series of mishaps and said “Enough is enough. Now time has come for taking hard decisions.” He asked GMs to make necessary changes, if necessary in the safety drills.
“If you want to make any changes in the safety functioning then do it. We are with you,” Sinha said and proposed filling up safety posts on a priority basis.
AK Mittal said Indian Railways is finalising a safety plan at an estimated cost of about Rs 1 lakh crore. “We are preparing a comprehensive safety plan which includes elimination of all level crossings and strengthening of tracks and bridges among others. It would cost about Rs 1 lakh crore. We will approach the Finance Ministry for the special fund to upgrade safety of the rail network,” Mittal said.
While four persons, including two foreign nationals were killed in two accidents last Saturday, there were twin derailments in Madhya Pradesh on August 4 in which 30 passengers died. loss of lives was also reported in March due to a train accident near lucknow when the Budget Session was in progress this year.
Sources said that two GMs also engaged in a heated argument with the Board members when they were questioned about the safety management they were inducting. The GMs expressed their inability to meet the standards citing various reasons including non-cooperation from the Railway Board in this regard.