The derailment of howrah-chennai Coromandel Express raises questions about railway safety.
Over 700 hundred passengers of the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express who were stranded in the open Friday night after their train went off the rails at Jajpur, 120 km from Bhubaneshwar, had to wait till the wee hours of the morning before some help could be provided to them as that is when the first rescue teams were able to reach the site of the accident.
However, locals in the vicinity like Kanhu Nath, Biswajit, Babu Hansada had by then already go to the spot, set up a makeshift information centre and began helping out.
One of those injured thanked Lord Jagannath for his miraculous escape. Haradhan Mukherjee, 53, of Huguli who accompanied his mother to Chennai for a kidney operation spent the entire night on the tracks.
Once the three units of the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) reached Jajpur, rescue operations were intensified. While the official death toll was nine, the unofficial sources maintained that 15 people have died and more than 160 people were critically injured. Twenty people have been admitted into the State’s premier medical institution SCB Medical College for treatment. According to hospital sources, the condition of four of them was very critical.
Though the reasons for the derailment have yet to be ascertained, the driver of the train, M Jani apparently spotted fire behind the engine, slammed the brakes, as a result of which the train jumped the tracks. On the other hand, another source said the train diver failed to negotiate a changing track.
Union Minister of State for Railways R Velu who visited the spot on Saturday announced that a high-level enquiry has been ordered into the derailment of the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express. “The Commissioner of Railway Safety will inquire into the incident and submit the report within seven days,” he said.
He further said officials were working on a war-footing to clear the tracks to restore normal traffic on the important route within 48 hours.
The railways also announced Rs 5 lakh compensation and a job to the next of the kin of the deceased, Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured and Rs 10,000 for partially injured. The special train carrying the injured reached Howrah at 1 pm today. Another train also left for Chennai. Meanwhile, BJD MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra said the accident took place due to poor maintenance of the railway tracks.
Meanwhile, at the scene, activists drawn from various voluntary organisations are trying hard to relocate the separated relatives from different wards of the hospital and comforting each wailing injured by bringing “get well soon” messages from other relatives. The hospital staff too on their part are providing yeomen service to each injured. “We are trying our best to treat each injured member of a family in the same ward so as to bring down their anxiety level,” said a doctor.
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