A person's death is a tragedy, and when the number of deaths exceeds double digits, it is called a disaster. If we look at any section of human history where the number of deaths is in the form of a group, it is referred to as a disaster. However, this disaster is not just an accident; it is a form of mass murder caused by negligence.
The Indian Railways has a long history of accidents. The most dangerous accident in the history of Indian Railways occurred in 1981. A passenger train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar state, and its coaches plunged into the Bagmati River, resulting in the death of 800 passengers. Many families of the victims did not even find the bodies of their loved ones and are still awaiting their remains.
Until the year 2002, an average of 475 train accidents occurred each year. However, there has been improvement in rail safety in recent years. The total number of serious train accidents has decreased from 300 in the previous two decades to 22 in 2020. Before 2017, more than 100 passenger trains were involved in accidents each year.
Despite the improvements, there are still dangerous accidents. After each accident, an investigation committee is formed, and it takes years to discover the causes of the accidents. In India, most railway accidents occur due to damage to railway tracks and trains derailing due to overcrowding. After the passage of some trains, the rail tracks fracture, causing the trains to derail and resulting in significant loss of life and property.
The negligence of railway employees is a major cause of railway accidents and deaths. Human errors are often found responsible for most railway accidents. Many times, railway employees do not pay attention to safety precautions and regulations, which have disastrous consequences. In addition, equipment failures, broken tracks, overcrowding in compartments, old coaches, and various unforeseen factors contribute to such railway accidents.
From time to time, successive governments have made significant arrangements to deal with these accidents, but it has not yielded much benefit. After some time, we would witness such accidents again. The current government also claims to have taken significant measures for safety, but accidents still occur in front of our eyes. However, the current government is vigilant about the improvements in railways' safety, and there has been a significant reduction in accidents in this decade compared to the previous one.
However, the praise for these improvements can only be given when not a single life is lost due to railway accidents. This railway accident has presented heart-wrenching scenes, where some fathers are searching for their children's bodies, while others are searching for their loved ones' bodies in the heaps of corpses.
From common citizens to the government machinery, everyone is devoted to providing relief, and the effort is to save as many lives as possible. The government should provide appropriate compensation to the affected people. While no one can compensate for the loss of those who have lost their loved ones, many families have lost the sole breadwinners who were responsible for their livelihoods. Now, the responsibility of their livelihoods lies with the government, and it is hoped that the government will fulfill all these responsibilities.
The government and the railways should ensure that the country does not have to face such railway accidents and that no one loses their life due to such accidents.
 | Sandeep Kumar Panchal |