Yet another case of negligence came into picture as Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derailed in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district. More than 34 people have died and over 150 were injured. It was likely that there was a failure in the braking system, but the actual cause of the accident is still to be probed. But if we look deeper into the train accidents in India, this incident would not seem new.
All of us remember the derailing of Bangalore-Ernakulam Express last month near Bangalore, sending 9 people into the gloomy world. One of the survivors, Sharmila, was heading towards Thrissur accompanied by her nine year old son Arun to buy medicines for herself. But the ill fated train took her son from and also caused serious injuries to herself. It is unimaginable that how she would cope up with this burden of loss. And there are many other families like her as well, shedding a tear for their loved ones.
A higher impact accident was seen in July 2011, when the Kalka Mail from Howrah to New Delhi derailed in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh claiming 69 lives.
Even the super fast, Rajdhani Express, has not remained unaffected with these fatalities. New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express has witnessed one of the deadliest accidents in the history of Indian Railways. In September 2002, the train was derailed over an old bridge. Two of the coaches tumbled beneath the river. The cause of the crash was not obvious, but rust and metal weariness appeared to be the reason. A railway employee commented on that incident,”The bridge was considered weak for a long time”, but as in the Kadalundi River rail disaster which happened thirteen months back, nothing was done to repair the structure. Sabotage was reported as the cause of the incident at a later stage. The list of such accidents has prolonged and many other train accidents are getting acquainted with these.
Ferrying nearly 18 million people every day, the responsibility of the Indian Railway Ministry should me more altruistic. The railway ministers have changed time and again, but the modus operandi has remained the same. Ministers order probe, but the outcome of the probes has never been probed. With most of the accidents caused by derailing and collision, the continuity in this negligence has to come to an end, otherwise these fatalities would be continued and the life of a common man will be jeopardized. More seriousness is required from the government officials to ensure safe travel of passengers. In order to ensure lesser collision accidents, the technology has to be improved rather than depending on manual intervention for signaling. The change in attitude towards the ceasing of accidents is the only solution to assure people a safe journey, and it needs to be done immediately.
