SC notice to Railway Ministry on accidents

SC notice to Railway Ministry on accidents
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JULY 13: The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Union Government and the Railway Ministry on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) drawing court's attention to the increasing number of fatal accidents on tracks due to lack of modernisation of the rail system.

Keeping in mind the importance of the matter, a bench headed by Chief Justice A S Anand, which had earlier sought the Attorney General's opinion on this issue, today issued notices asking the respondent to file their replies expeditiously.

The petition filed by a NGO Common Cause drew court's attention to the recent accidents at Gaisal in West Bengal and Khanna in Punjab which claimed 400 and 200 lives respectively.

Counsel for the petitioner, senior advocate Ashwini Kumarand Rajiv Nanda, pointed out that 70 per cent of the rail accidents were caused due to human failure but none of the inquiry commission reports were either made public or their recommendations implemented.

The petitioner sought a direction to the government to consider setting up a separate group of experts to undertake assessment of technological upgradation in all aspects of railway system functioning to eliminate accidents due to human error, equipment failure or other avoidable reasons.

The Common Cause in its petition said the Railways has increased manifold in the last 50 years, but the safety and communication system adopted by it has not modernised.

Railway lines spread over 60,000 kilometres, employs 1.6 million workers, annual average budget of Rs 28,000 crore, carries 13 million passengers, 1.2 million tonnes of goods daily and runs over 13,000 trains daily, it said.

"During the last five years there has apparently been serious deterioration in the functioning of the system on account of it not keeping pace with the essential requirements of modenrisation," the petition said.

The organisation requested the court to keep a tab over the working of the expert group, which would suggest ways and means to avoid accidents on rail tracks.

The court should ensure that the group submits report within a definite time frame and that their reports be made public to invite further any suggestion, it said.

The petitioner also said that side by side, the government must introduce a system where responsibility for lapses should be fixed on individuals, howsoever high he might be and the same system should be strictly enforced.

The Common Cause said if it was found that any employee was lax in his duty, suitable and exemplary punishment must be imposed on him so that the staff in future remained vigilant.