‘People died for no fault of theirs’: TMC targets Centre over anti-collision devices

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday visited the accident site and interacted with the injured passengers undergoing treatment at a local hospital in Balasore district of Odisha. “Today, I visited Balasore Hospital and inquired about the health of those who are injured and interacted with the friends and families of those we have lost. I offered them my unwavering support,” said the CM.

West Bengal Chief Secretary Harikrishna Dwivedi said that state minister Manas Bhuiyan accompanied by TMC MP Dola Sen and district officials had left for Odisha. The Paschim Medinipur district administration has sent more than 20 ambulances to Balasore to help with the rescue operations.

The chief minister hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre for “neglecting the railways”. “The railways department is neglected. They (Centre) do not care for passengers’ safety and security. The situation is getting from bad to worse. Anti-collision devices (ACDs) were set up (in trains) when I was there (as Railway Minister). Had these devices been there the accident could have been averted,” she said.

TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who is currently touring the state as part of his ‘Jana Sanjog Yatra’, cancelled his programme for the day.

Criticising the central government, the TMC MP said, “Somebody has to take responsibility for the death of these people who died due to no fault of their own. When Mamata Banerjee was serving as the Union Railways Minister, she had allocated funds for ACDs to ensure that these are installed in trains and such accidents could be avoided. The central government should publish a whitepaper on the funds utilised for installing ACDs in trains, which are used by crores of Indians. The Prime Minister said a ‘Kavach’ had been ensured for the people. But if this Kavach was effective, would an accident, of this scale, take place? The PM and the Central government cannot absolve themselves from being held accountable,” the Diamond Harbour MP added.

On Saturday midnight, BJP state chief Sukanta Majumder and the party’s Bengal general secretary Jagannath Chatterjee left for Balasore. They were accompanied by more than 20 ambulances for injured persons. BJP leaders said the initiative was coordinated by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. The party also cancelled all its political programmes that were slated for Saturday.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) said its members and youth leaders were helping relatives of injured persons in hospitals in Paschim Medinipur.

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