- 21 passengers were killed and hundreds injured when four coaches of the Diva-Sawantwadi Road passenger train overturned after a derailment.
- Preliminary reports suggest a possible fracture at the spot. Detailed investigations should be carried out to find out how this occurred, and also how gangmen, who routinely examine a track assigned to them, twice a day failed to notice and report this fracture.
- The number of emergency exits inside the train should be increased.
- After a slew of earlier accidents, the govt appointed the Kakodkar committee to investigate rail safety but has failed to implement any of its recommendations, many of which are linked to funding.
- In this case, the Railways swiftly conducted rescue operations, paid compensation to the victims and announced an inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, but care should be prevent derailments, which is an avoidable accident, by careful and routine examinations of the tract.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/another-wakeup-call/article5980509.ece
Exams Perspective:
- Kakodkar Committee
- Konkan Railways
- Commissioner of Railway Safety