Mukul seeks report on rly safety revamp

For critical upgrade of safety infrastructure,Roy said that he would seek additional fund from the Prime Minster and Finance Minister with the help of all MPs

Holding the first apex-level meeting of the Railway Ministry here on Wednesday after the Hampi Express collision,which killed 25 passengers,Railway Minister Mukul Roy commissioned a Detailed Project Report to revamp safety procedures in the Indian Railways.

For critical upgrade of safety infrastructure,Roy said that he would seek additional fund from the Prime Minster and Finance Minister with the help of all MPs. I have sought a DPR and a safety drive is to be conducted across railways right from the level of general managers to divisional railway managers and below, he said.

The chairman of Railway Board will have to submit the DPR by June 30 chalking out an interim plan and a long-term solution to recurring lapses in safety procedures causing accidents.

Even as the commissioner of Railway Safety starts his formal probe into the accident,sources said that the Boards assessment found there were several two-wheelers inside the sitting-cum-luggage compartment whose tanks contained petrol and that could have led to the fire that increased casualty figures. As per rules,two wheelers booked in parcel for transit should have dry tanks and that is checked by concerned officials at stations before giving a go-ahead for loading of the bikes. But the final probe report is awaited.

Officials said that human errors and negligence in safety procedures have been plaguing the railways.

So much so that chairman of Railway Board Vinay Mittal had to crack the whip last month saying that non-adherence of safety rules by railwaymen were causing accidents.

In a letter written to zonal general managers,Mittal had said,In spite of repeated instructions,accidents continue to occur8230; due to non-observance of safety-related rules,instructions,procedures and practices.

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Roy has asked the Railway Board to go through the report of the High Level Safety Review Committee,led by Anil Kakodkar,presented earlier this year,and has directed that relevant,operative portions of the report which had punched countless holes in railway safety be implemented.