Odisha Mishap: Political nit-picking stymies probe

The rescue operations of the triple train accident at Balasore in Odisha which was the worst accident seen in two decades are almost over. Works on restoration of tracks are at a brisk pace.

The government now will have to face many questions. All political parties have expressed their condolences and are holding back their volley of questions for politicising the issue later. Anytime they will start firing their ammo at the government. Nothing wrong in it. In fact, they should question the government, but the intention should be to unearth the real cause of the mishap and not to indulge in mere blame game. Over 280 people lost their lives and over 900 are injured. They should understand the gravity of the situation and focus on the technical aspects and human failure and conspiracy angle, if any. They should try to expose the omissions and commissions of the railway administration both at the station level and at the level of railway ministry.

But unfortunately, we would be witnessing no-holds-barred statements and barbs targeted at each other. The opposition will also demand railway minister’s scalp as if that would solve the problem. While demanding his resignation, they should first answer how many of the railway ministers in Congress regime resigned after train accidents took place. The best example one can still quote is only that of Lal Bahadur Shastri who served as railway minister between 1951 and 1956. He resigned from his post after over 140 people died in a train disaster. Excessive rains caused the river Maruthaiyar to swell and reach the tracks, resulting in the derailing of the train.

The Congress said the “horrendous” train accident in Odisha reinforces why safety should always be the foremost priority in the functioning of the rail network and asserted that there are many questions to ask of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Vaishnaw. Certainly, the accident raises several questions but surely not political in nature. Hope our political parties will display maturity and would be sensitive to the large-scale deaths that took place and will restrain themselves from indulging in cheap politics.

The leaders should focus on tearing the government into pieces on the issue of rail safety. They should raise as many legitimate questions as they can from Monday onwards to unearth the truth and real reason behind the horrendous accident.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who served as Railway Minister twice, flew to the accident site on Saturday afternoon and demanded a proper investigation. But she should recall that as many as 54 collisions took place during her tenure. There were 839 derailments and 1451 deaths. But then she resigned only to take oath as CM of West Bengal and not following any accident.

Sharad Pawar and Congress parties which referred to the resignation of Lal Bahadur Shastri as railway minister should first answer why his successors did not resign when some accidents took place. Rhetoric wont help. Senior most leaders should utilise their experience in finding solution for the future rather than indulge in mudslinging. It is certainly not the time to point a finger at each other. The opposition parties should go to the root cause of the accident and see that such accidents do not happen again.