Expressing shock and grief at the loss of nearly 300 lives in the train accident in Odisha, Opposition leaders have raised several questions over the safety protocols of the trains being run in the country amid demand for the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The accident involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and a goods train in Odisha’s Balasore district left nearly 288 people dead and injured more than 1100, in one of the worst railway accidents in the country.
The Railway Board has recommended an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the accident, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday. The Board said that “signalling interference” has been identified as the main cause of the accident, adding that the possibility of sabotage has not been ruled out.
West Bengal Chief Minister and former Railway minister Mamata Banerjee reached the accident site on Saturday afternoon and demanded a proper investigation.
Banerjee also questioned the death figures given by the Ministry of Railways in the triple train crash, stating that 61 people from her state were dead and 182 were still missing.
This is the biggest rail mishap of this century and a proper investigation must be conducted, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief told reporters. “Something must be behind this. The truth must come out. Why didn’t the anti-collision system work?” Banerjee asked.
RJD chief and former Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav stated that sheer negligence caused the train tragedy and claimed that the BJP-led government at the Centre has “destroyed” the Railways.
The tragic train crash in Balasore, Odisha, on Friday evening could have been prevented by a functioning anti-collision system, TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale said, adding that the BJP is more focussed on “Modi’s Vande Bharat PR and photo-ops instead of safety”.
“Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw must resign immediately if he has any conscience or sense of responsibility and shame left in him,” Gokhale said.
CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya too raised the same question. “Do we no longer have any signalling and safety system in Indian railways? Or will such terrible tragedies become the new normal for rail travel in India? We owe an answer to the victims and to the families who lost their near and dear ones in this mishap,” he said in a tweet.
Aam Aadmi Party minister Saurabh Bhardwaj Bhardwaj tweeted, “The way the news of the accident has come, it is India’s biggest rail accident in history so far. Three trains have collided. So many people have died. A few days back, the same central government had given a presentation and said that they we have come up with such a system that no train could collide with each other. Was statement that a system was brought a lie or that because of corruption that system could not work?”