Title - Tamil Nadu Express fire: How Railways ignored safety

2:10 pm: Another recommendation the committee had made was putting a folding ladder that could be deployed in order to allow passengers to get out of compartments quicker.

“A simple ladder or equivalent feature with a permanent fitment or foldable and deployable provision should be available for assisting passengers to get down from coaches in the event of accident,” the panel noted.

Unfortunately most of the safety facilities have not been implemented due to a lack of funds. Wonder whether these features are among those that Mukul Roy is seeking funds for from the Prime Minister?

2:05 pm: So what is Dinesh Trivedi talking about? The panel set up by the Indian Railways to examine safety, headed by eminent nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar, had submitted its report before the Railway Budget, in which it had made a range of recommendations on how to improve safety in Indian Railways.

Noting that while fires did not claim the most number of lives on Indian Railways (unmanned railway crossings do) the panel had noted that the possibility of fires were highest between 1400 to 0600 hours. The incident at Nellore incidentally took place around 4:30 am.

The panel also recommended the provision of flame detection systems in railway coaches to sound alarms and warn passengers in the event of a fire. In the case of the Tamil Nadu Express, most of the witnesses have been quoted as saying they woke up only after the fire was already raging.

1:50 pm: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed his condolences to the victims of the fire and asked the Railway Ministry to render all assistance to the affected.

Singh has conveyed his sympathies to the kin of those who died in the accident. He asked Railways to work with the Andhra government to coordinate and speed up rescue and relief measures besides rendering all assistance to the kin of the victims.

1:35 pm: Here’s the video of Dinesh Trivedi speaking with CNN-IBN about the condition of  the railways and what needs to be done.

1:05 pm: Former Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi weighs in on the debate and says that the Railways “is in a mess”.

“The Railways system has collapsed. Until you address safety you will see such incidents happen almost regularly,” he told CNN-IBN.

Trivedi says safety and modernisation need to go hand in hand. He asks the Prime Minister to look at the situation in the Railways and says harsh steps may need to be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.

Wonder what Mamata Banerjee thinks about her MP’s views?

12:50 pm: Roy has said that he had met with the Prime Minister and told them of the need to improve the condition of the Railways.

The Railways Minister said that the he and the Railway Board would meet with the Planning Commission seeking assistance to improve the technology on board Indian Railways

“We have spoken to the Prime Minister for a safety fund. We will submit a detailed project report to the Prime Minister,” he said.

“Gross budgetary support is required for security and safety. We should have it sorted in first week of August,” Roy said.

Perhaps he should be looking closer to home for a solution. His predecessor, Dinesh Trivedi, lost his job after attempting to raise passenger fares in order to improve safety and facilities on board the railways.

12:40 pm: Railways Minister Mukul Roy said he has asked the Railway Board to set up a high power committee which would investigate the cause of the fire.

Asked whether the blaze was caused by a short circuit, Roy said, “Nothing is being ruled out and nothing can be said
without an investigation. It will be investigated whether it was caused by a short circuit or a passenger was carrying
inflammable substances.”