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Journalism of Courage
An inquiry is being conducted, they say, to find the cause of the terrible inferno aboard the Frontier Mail that consumed so many innocent lives near Ludhiana. But some questions just cannot wait.
Could the fire have been contained in those early hours of Thursday before it gutted almost four coaches? Were there any fire safety mechanisms in place in the coaches that caught fire? Was there a safety drill that railway personnel in the ill-fated coaches did not perform in time, or not at all? And what happens now?
Only a few days ago, this newspaper was among those who pointed out to the action not taken by the Indian Railways after the catastrophic collision that killed 320 people in Gaisal, Assam, in August 1999.
The Action Taken Report tabled in Lok Sabha last week, along with the complete 176-page inquiry report of Justice G.N. Ray, failed to mention what, if any, action had been taken against the guilty officials. There is no evidence that the retired judge8217;s expressions of 8216;8216;pain and anguish8217;8217; 8212; at railway officials not speaking the truth during the inquiry, or at their attempts to dress up criminal negligence of staff as a larger conspiracy 8212; made any impression in railway officialdom.
There is little evidence that the recommendations for expediting track circuiting, installing the Automatic Warning System, mobile radio communication, track renewal and replacing outdated signalling systems were being taken up for implementation with any urgency. There is evidence, on the other hand, to show that the same old criminal routine continues8212;a resource crunch is cited whenever the issue of safety comes up even as new trains are regularly announced to service the minister8217;s state/constituency.
Whatever the inquiry report has to say about the cause of Thursday8217;s catastrophe, the real question is this: Is the Indian railways prepared to reorient its priorities? Is it willing to learn lessons from tragedy? Or is it condemned to replay it?
