New Delhi: A fracture in the rail line was
responsible for the Howrah-Kalka Mail accident which claimed
70 lives last month, the preliminary report submitted to
Railway Ministry, claimed.
"The Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety in his
preliminary report has concluded that the accident had
occurred due to breakage of rail," said Railway Minister
Dinesh Trivedi, during a calling attention motion in the Rajya
Sabha on Thursday.
The Howrah-Kalka Mail met with the accident when it was
passing through Malwan station in Uttar Pradesh on July 10.
While 70 passengers lost their lives, 87 suffered grievous
injuries and 166 suffered simple injuries.
Assuring the House that all possible steps are being
taken to prevent accidents, Trivedi said the Railways will
fill all safety-related top posts within this week.
"I will be personally sit on everybody`s head, if I can
use the word,...all vacancies are going to be filled ...at
higher levels within this week," Trivedi said.
The Railways has around 1.5 lakh vacancies related to
safety, but Trivedi did not give the numbers that needed to be
filled up at the higher-level.
Earlier, while seeking clarifications on the frequent
rail accidents, BJP, CPI-M and AIADMK blamed the Railways for
lack of safety measures.
They said the reasons behind accidents include over 1 lakh
vacancies in posts related to safety, large number of unmanned
level crossings and indiscriminate announcement of new trains
without investing in infrastructure like locomotives, rolling
stocks and fire-proof coaches.
PTI
