The worst train mishap

Friday evening’s accident at Balasore in Odisha involving three trains—two high-speed passenger trains and a goods train—is probably the worst kind of railway accident that has occurred in India in recent times. Even as more than 24 hours had elapsed since the accident took place, rescue workers were still struggling to retrieve people, both dead and alive. As has been reported, the double accident involving three trains took place at around 7 p.m. on Friday. The first two coaches of the 12864 Yashwantpur-Howrah Express derailed near Bahanaga railway station. As the derailed coaches were tossed over to the adjoining track, the super-fast 12841 Coromandal Express coming from the opposite direction rammed into it, leading to the derailment of at least 17 coaches. The death toll is likely to cross 300. Going by records, India’s worst rail accident took place near Saharsa (Bihar) on June 6, 1981 (750+ deaths), followed by the Firozabad disaster of August 20, 1995 (358 deaths). On August 2, 1999, at least 285 people were killed near Gaisal (West Bengal). The exact cause of the horrible disaster will only be ascertained after a thorough investigation. But the basic truth is that there was a serious technological failure in this digital era. While there has been an endless quest for solutions to prevent railway collisions, it was only in 2011 that an Anti Collision Device (ACD) was indigenously developed by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited and successfully tested. Going one step forward, the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with the Indian Railways, has only recently designed Kavach, which is supposed to be a state-of-the-art electronic system that was designed to help the Indian Railways achieve zero accidents. Yet to be put in place, Kavach will be the world’s cheapest automatic train collision protection system, costing Rs 50 lakh per kilometre to operate compared to about Rs 2 crore worldwide. It also opens avenues for the export of this indigenous technology to the railways. At the moment, the entire country is in a state of shock over the Balasore tragedy, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi aptly saying that words cannot capture the deep sorrow caused by the accident.