Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee seems to have pushed the railways, which contributes around 1.5% to the country’s gross domestic product, back by a decade in the context of passenger safety.
Between May 2009, the time she took over as the railway minister, and now, the number of deaths in train mishaps has risen to the 1999-2000 levels. The number of casualties in train collisions between May 2009 and now stands at 276, a notch below 317 during 1999-2000.
Interestingly, between 2000-01 and 2008-09, there was a marked decline in the number of deaths in train mishaps, with 2007-08 seeing only one casualty despite eight collisions. During 2006-07, there were two deaths in eight collisions.
The last few years have witnessed a rise in the number of collisions as well. In Mamata’s regime till date, the railways have already matched the UPA-I record of 13 collisions. During 2004-05 as well as 2008-09, it had reported 13 collisions.
The rising number of casualties and accidents has prompted the joint parliamentary committee on railways, headed by TR Baalu, to set a six-month deadline for the ministry to come up with a blueprint for installation of anti-collision devices (ACDs) across the country.
In a report submitted in the last session of parliament, it observed, “The committee felt that the pace of installing ACDs is still unsatisfactory for various reasons. The committee, while appreciating the efforts of Konkan Railway in installing ACDs, directs the railways to come out with a concrete strategy within six months in this regard after examining all issues involved and studying the best practices available. In the interim, the committee directs the railway board to apprise the committee every two months of the progress made in this regard without fail.”
