We Share The Grief
We are totally distressed by the train tragedy at Balasore and convey our condolences to the bereaved families.
It is the third worst railway accident in India considering human casualty.
On 6th June 1981 a train accident in Bihar killed about 800 people.
Another accident in UP on 20th August 1995 killed 400 people. Now at Balasore about 300 people lost life and more than 1100 people injured after an accident involving three trains. The horrific accident happened when Coromandel express heading towards Chennai , derailed. Technical fault or human error, whatsoever, has caused such a great tragedy.
Proper treatment of injured is the urgent need. The local people of Balasore immersed themselves in assisting rescue ops and several people lined up to donate blood.
We appreciate the prompt action taken towards rescue operations by NDRF, Railways and the Governments at State and Centre. But the fact remains that more than 3 lakhs posts are vacant in Indian Railways, a system constructed in 19th century which has become the most important transit system of our country. India’s railway system is a marvel, in that it connects a massive country together, is an affordable mode of transportation that serves 23 million people each day.‘Kavach’, the automatic Train protection system developed by Railways is available only in few areas.Railways have confirmed that the trains that met with the tragedy were not ‘Kavach’ enabled. We hope that Indian Railways will take immediate action to improve the protection devices to save the human lives. The Government has to take appropriate action to avoid recurrence of such accidents.
Financial compensation for the dead is not enough. Majority of the passengers died in the accident travelled in Unreserved Coaches. The Govt should identify the victims and extend relief and provide employment to the kith and kin in Railways.