Mishaps in the Past Have Mocked the Railways’ Claim of Introducing High-speed Trains With No Concrete Safety Plan in Place.
At a time when we are thrilled at the thought of the arrival of hyper loop transportation technology enabling high-speed travel inside a partially vacuum tube and introduction of the bullet trains, our conventional trains and the passenger safety are completely off the track.
The railway ministry is drawing criticism for failing to preventing derailment accidents that took place in the recent past. Three horrific accidents took place in little over two months.On November 20, 2016, the Indore-Patna express derailed near Pukhrayan in Kanpur killing approximately 145 passengers and leaving several injured. The accident prompted railway minister Suresh Prabhu to hold marathon meetings with railway board officials to initiate strict action against lax officials and prevent any reoccurrence. However, barely after one-and-a-half month of the Pukhraya incident, 15 coaches of the Ajmer-Sealdah express came off the tracks and crumpled into one another at Rura, nearly 70 km from Kanpur. This incident further escalated Prabhu’s tension. The latest accident took place on January 21, when the Hirakhand express was derailed in Vizianagaram district of Andrea Pradesh, killing at least 41 people.
The accidents have exposed the railways’ inability to ensure accident free operations. The mishaps triggered a debate over the need of initiating comprehensive safety measures and recruiting adequate staff for the safety wing. The railways which was hogging the limelight for being pro-active on social media addressing to passengers’ grievances and disseminate real-time rail information, is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Such fatal incidents have raised doubts over the railways’ intention of providing fast and safer travel experience.
Denne historien er fra February 1, 2017-utgaven av GovernanceNow.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 1, 2017-utgaven av GovernanceNow.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
the trump phenomenon
how the 2016 election exposed the us underbelly.
chinnamma is not amma
sasikala may have become the leader of the aiadmk, but she is a far cry from j jayalalithaa, who towered over tamil nadu politics like a colossus.
sakshi malik
sakshi malik is the first indian female wrestler to bag an olympic medal. the 24-year-old comes from mokhra village of rohtak, haryana. she came into the limelight as an international wrestler after she won bronze in the junior world championship in 2010. then, she went on to win silver in the commonwealth games in 2014 and a bronze at the asian wrestling championships in 2015. after rio olympics, malik was conferred india’s highest sporting honour – the rajiv gandhi khel ratna. she is also the brand ambassador of the beti bachao, beti padhao campaign in haryana.
Across The Threshold
A social media campaign aims to bridge gaps between communities by urging people to visit ‘people unlike us’
'How Can An Insurance Firm Promote Death?'
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck cancer surgeon at the Tata Memorial hospital in Mumbai, is a leading antitobacco activist. He joined hands with Sumitra Hooda Pednekar and others to file a PIL in the Bombay high court earlier this year, questioning the staterun insurance firm LIC’s investments in a leading cigarette-maker company. Edited excerpts from an interview with Geetanjali Minhas:
The Wolf And The Lamb
Social injustice and the fate of the university
"Young Dalit Leaders Have Age, Situation On Their Side"
How do you see the rise of the Bhim Army in Uttar Pradesh?During the last assembly elections in UP, it was a common consensus among many [dalit leaders] that we’d give one more chance to Mayawati.
Timely Delivery
A veteran bureaucrat explains how to complete government projects without time and cost overruns.
Cauvery Water Dispute
India’s leading water expert and president of the South Asia Consortium for Inter disciplinary Water Resources Studies, S Janakarajan, wonders why Chennai, a city that receives 1,250 mm rainfall, is called a thirsty city and goes on to explain to Shivani Chaturvedi what went wrong among the southern states that led to a water-war like situation. But, he warns that such a scenario will keep occurring if the government does not come up with a lasting solution.
Case Against Cash
Can you imagine a day without cash?
