Railway Board fixes accountability: on the stars and planets!

A top Railway Board official briefed a few reporters today insisting that his name not be used. ‘‘Coming from a science background,’’ he said, ‘‘earlier even I did not believe that adverse planetary configuration could cause accidents. But now I must say, I tend to believe it. After all even that is scientific.’’

You can doubt his rationality but not his seriousness. Citing the 1988 derailment of Island Express train into a lake in Kerala, he said that it had been blamed on a tornado. ‘‘However, a physicist had done some research and found that the radioactivity near the accident site was much higher than that in the surrounding areas. It was a UFO which had apparently passed causing the train to derail,’’ he said with a straight face.

If only the official had come back to Planet Earth, he would know that the distinguished judge Justice H R Khanna had recommended, four years ago, systems that could have averted the disaster: the Auxiliary Warning System (AWS).

The AWS triggers an alarm in case the train driver overshoots a signal, failing to slow down. Brakes are applied automatically, averting a Golconda Express type of accident. The Golconda Express driver was supposed to enter the loop-line at a speed of 15 kmph but he did it at 70 kmph, crossing the sand hump at the dead-end and jumping over the bridge.

Asked about it the havan official said: ‘‘The AWS has been installed in Mumbai metro, but since it is costly technology it is not possible to install it all over the country.’’ So what is the Rs 17,000 crore under Special Railway Safety Fund meant for? ‘‘That is for replacing overaged assets, introducing safety enhancing facilities including training and buying simulators for drivers.’’

And what about adopting a Corporate Safety Plan, another of Khanna committee’s major recommendations? That surely does not cost any money and should not take so many years to prepare and implement. ‘‘Well, it is under consideration and something should be done about it soon,’’ he said. Maybe he’s waiting for the stars to slide into the right place.