West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that the Indian Railways has created a “world record” in derailments. Her comments came right after few wagons of an empty goods train jumped tracks in the state’s Jalpaiguri district.
“What is happening with the Railways? Even today, there is news of derailment. The Railways has created a world record in derailments. But, nobody says anything?” she said.
She further said that people are now scared of travelling in trains. “Where is the railway minister? Only asking for votes during elections will not help, you have to be by the side of people when they are in danger,” she further said.
This morning, five wagons of an empty goods train derailed at New Maynaguri railway station in Jalpaiguri. However, no injuries were reported. The incident occured at 6:20 am.
Banerjee, who has held the position of railway minister twice, asserted that she managed the department efficiently and allocated numerous projects to West Bengal.
“As the railway minister, I had sanctioned projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore for Bengal,” the CM said.
Rail accidents reduced significantly
Today, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that there has been a significant reduction in rail accidents in the last 10 years as compared to the time when Banerjee was heading the ministry.
Vaishnaw was responding to the remarks made by the West Bengal chief minister, who mocked the Indian Railways by claiming it had set a “world record” for derailments.
“During Mamata Banerjee’s period and Congress’ period, the number of accidents were 171 per annum. We have relentlessly worked on safety in the last 10 years and reduced this number to less than one third of what it was during their period,” Vaishnaw said.
(With PTI inputs)