The entire nation is shocked by the train accidents in Balasore, Odisha. Due to the accident of two passenger trains and a goods train, more than 260 people have died and the number of injured is said to be around 1000. Many of them are also seriously injured. It is being said that this accident can be one of the worst accidents in the history of India’s rail accidents. Howrah to Chennai Shalimar Chennai, Coromandel Super Fast Express is considered as one of the luxurious train. This is the train which has truly connected the whole of North India with the South. People used to talk a lot about the speed of this train and the beauty of the route. So this accident has not happened only with the lives of the people on board at that time. It has also happened to those people who have been passengers of this train. To see the Coromandel Super Fast in this condition, inhabited like a beautiful fairy in their imaginations, must have blown away the senses of all those who have ever traveled in this super fast.
Another train accident took place in Balasore.
Near Balasore Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal Howrah Super Fast Express derailed at the station. Coaches are scattered on the track. On the adjacent track Shalimar Chennai Coromandel Super Fast Express coming from the opposite direction collided with them. 12 coaches of Coromandel Express derailed. Collided with a freight train. 17 bogies of both the trains were derailed and badly damaged. Or all the information is preliminary, now more information will keep coming. If a train had met with an accident earlier, it would have come from any direction at that time. The signal to the train must have gone. The signal was given to the driver of the goods train. How the Super Fast Express came from the side track How long ago Howrah Super Fast Express met with an accident.
Why did the goods train stand still? All these will be investigated. Railway Minister has already visited. An inquiry has been ordered, our thoughts are with the families of those killed and injured in the accident.
As soon as the news of this accident came, questions started arising about the armor and many videos of the railway minister started going viral in this regard, in which he is telling about the armor that when two trains will face each other, on the same track, 400 meters before. Will stop It is being asked whether there was armor on this route or not? The answer has come, there was no armor on this route.
Railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma has given a statement in the media that there is no cover on this route itself. Had Kavach been on this route, probably more than 260 people would not have died today.
There are many technologies around the world to prevent train collisions. For many years, we have been hearing that anti-collision devices will be installed. There is no information about them. Now just armor has started becoming armor. We would like to inform you in advance about the condition of this armor before moving forward. The statement of Rail Technology Advisor Lalit Trivedi has been published on behalf of the Indian Institute of Science in the Times of India dated 11 October 2022. They have said that armoring some trains
New technology will not work perfectly. The entire rail network will have to be linked to it. There are 15,000 locomotives and self-propelled trains, 70,000 km of rail routes, 7000 railway stations and 15,000 level crossings. It will cost about 1,00,000 crores to connect all these with the cover system. The worst train accident in the history of India has happened on the commodity route. There is no cover on it. It is important to understand why it is not there. 1,00,000 crore is said to be spent on bringing the 70,000 kilometer rail network under armor.
Do you know how much money the government has given on this so far? There was only a budget provision of 273,00,00,000 for armor in 2022-23, whereas in the previous financial year only 133,00,00,000, whereas this expenditure has to be spent on it. You are spending 1,00,000 crores, not even 500,00,00,000.
On March 29, 2023, the Railway Minister has replied in the Lok Sabha. 22,00,00,000 has been spent on the development of Kavach and so far 1455 km of routes have been covered with Kavach. Work is in progress on 3000 kms. Even before this, in many railway budgets, there was talk of installing devices to prevent collision of two trains. HPIB has written about Anti Collision Device in 2003. Then Minister of State for Railways Bandaru Dattatreya had tested the 400 kilometer long rail line in Hyderabad. Vande Bharat train became a world class train. Absolutely, a train that could never be thought of. The speed of 160 and 180.
Designing that speed train.
Only eight countries in the world have the capability. Group of countries which can design such a complex machine successfully.
It is a matter of design, it is a matter of self-reliant India.
At the same time, the passengers who got comfortable with it and the way the passengers got a new means. That’s a big deal. Is. We understand the sensitivity of the situation, Ministry’s officers and staff are engaged in relief and rescue operations. He has been awake since whole night. Why did the accident happen? Why is the condition of the railway so bad?
The relatives will get relief from these questions that at least some journalist is asking the Railway Minister why his own people died?
But at the time of such horrific accidents, the Railway Minister should have refrained from tweeting that ₹ 10,00,000 would be given to the dead. 2,00,000 will be given to the seriously injured. Usually all governments do this, but at that time when people were searching for the condition of their relatives, the news of death was being received, the announcement of 10,00,000 could have been stopped. This amount could also be given quietly.
After the June 2 accident, it was said that the accident happened after many years. Seeing these pictures of Balasore, we also felt that such a big accident has happened after 2017. But 2 days ago i.e. in The Hindu newspaper of 31st May
A report by Vijay Kumar proved such assumptions wrong. On the basis of this report, the Railway Minister should have been asked today whether there is a shortage of loco pilots in the Railways? Are the train drivers being made to work for more than 12 hours? If yes then what is its impact on the safety of the train or on their health? Vijay Kumar has written that according to sources, there have been 35 train accidents in the railways in 2021-2022.
In which either people have died or casualties or in which railways have been damaged and their number will increase to forty-eight in 2022-23. The number of simple accidents without loss was 162 in 2022-23. Signal missed in 35 cases, which is called Signal Passed at Danger SPAD. Were these small accidents not pointing towards some big accident? The Hindu’s Vijay Kumar wrote about the reasons for this being the lack of staff in the railways.
These accidents are increasing. The number of drivers driving the train is less. Loco pilots have to do minimum duty of 12 hours, they don’t get rest like before. The Railway Board has insisted on filling up these vacant posts immediately rather than urgently as per this report in order to reduce the working hours of loco pilots. This report demolishes the notion that accidents have stopped but are still happening.
It’s just that we stopped paying attention when such a big accident didn’t happen. What action did he take when the Railway Board Zonal Manager expressed concern? The report of The Hindu states that in a high-level meeting, concern was raised about the shortage of loco pilots. It is written in the news that the Railway Board has ordered the managers to properly evaluate the working hours of the loco pilots. Especially regarding the work of the pilot of East Coast Railway and South East Railway. Make sure that the duty does not exceed 12 hours in any case. Isn’t 12 hours duty too much? Driving a train requires tremendous concentration. Being tired must have affected him.
It has been written in the Hindu report that the working hours of the loco pilots of this Coast Railway and South East Railway, ie those who run the trains, should be reviewed. It was said that they are being made to work more. Read it carefully. It is written in this that the duty of loco pilot in South East Central Railway has started being more than 12 hours. Those doing duty for more than 12 hours in South East Central Railway in the first part of March, April and May
The figures of loco pilots are as follows: 36% in March, 35% in April and 33% in the first part of May had to do duty for more than 12 hours. Means there is so much deficiency. More and more duties of loco pilots are being made available to them. There are 392 vacancies of Loco Pilot in Southern Railway.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha in March 2022, Railway Minister Vaishnav had told that at the initial level, about 1,50,000 posts are vacant in the Railways. There are more than 19,000 vacancies in Northern Railway. More than 17,000 in South Central Railway, 238 loco pilots have been reinstated in North Western Railway in April this year.
Advertisement has been issued. In the same year i.e. on March 22, 2023, in response to the question of Lok Sabha MP Karunanidhi and Natarajan PR, Ashwini Vaishnav has informed that the number of vacant non-gazetted posts in the Railways is 3,11,438. The reaction of the opposition is restrained.
First, the railway is running on God’s trust without installing all the safety equipment. In November 2016, a horrific train accident took place in Kanpur. Later, a panel of Commissioner of Railway Safety reported that the welding had weakened due to corrosion in the coach, which led to this.
This is revealed by the report of Indian Express. We have not received any such news that any report has come after this. There is news from last year. In nine months, 77 senior railway officers took premature retirement. 77 senior officers could not cope with the pressure of doing more work. Had there been so much pressure of work, today the network of this route would have been equipped with armour, on which such a gruesome accident has taken place.