Odisha train accident, one of India's deadliest train crashes, has raised several questions on Indian Railways' safety measures
The incident has also put spotlight on Comptroller and Auditor General of India's 2022 report on derailments between April 2017 & March 2021
Here's the break down of shortfalls highlighted by CAG
The report suggests that there was a shortfall of 30-100% in inspecting structural & geometrical track condition by Track Recording Cars
Loopholes in Track Maintenance
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Rails & welds should be routinely tested by ultrasonic testing procedures. CAG revealed there were shortfalls in USFD testing between 2017 & 2021
Gap in Safety Inspections & Audits
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‘Rakshak’ device is used as a safety device to enhance security & safety of train operations. All field staff should have this device. However, even the torch provided to the staff was of poor quality & GPS was not working properly too
safety devices for field staff
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CAG report suggested that 422 derailments were the fault of Engineering Department. The ‘Mechanical Department’ was attributed with a total of 182 cases