Bihar derailment: Shiv Sena mouthpiece saamana raises questions on railway safety

Saamana, the official publication of the Shiv Sena (UBT), has raised concerns about the operations of the Indian Railways and passenger safety following a tragic incident on Wednesday night. In Bihar's Buxar district, 21 coaches of the North-East Express derailed, resulting in the loss of four lives and injuries to more than 30 passengers.

In its latest editorial published on Friday, the Saamana took a dig at the BJP-led Centre over its claims of bringing an overhaul of railway assets, services and infrastructure. After any railway accident, discussions continue for a few days around the possible causes, be it technical flaws, human mistakes or conspiracy. An inquiry committee or commission is formed and a report is presented. The mistakes of the Railway department are highlighted and questions are also raised on the security measures. 

But till the time such a report is submitted, a new accident is reported and followed by the same tedious process of inquiry and report, the editorial stated.  For the last few years, the Modi government has been playing up the supposed overhaul in the security mechanism of the Railways. If the system has, indeed, been overhauled, why are railway accidents happening time and again? Earlier, three trains collided with each other in Balasore, leaving 295 passengers dead. As many as 28 unidentified bodies from the accident were cremated only on Wednesday, after four months.

Quoting the death toll from the Bihar train derailment as six, the Saamana editorial expressed, Even before the pyres of these unclaimed victims from Balasore could die out, six passengers lost their lives after 21 coaches of the North East Express derailed in Bihar. More than a hundred passengers were injured. Now the government should provide a transparent explanation as to whether such accidents are due to its negligence or insufficient passenger safety measures.