Was Odisha train crash avoidable? A 2022 CAG report flagged serious concerns

A devasting train crash on Friday (June 2) in the Indian eastern state of Odisha has left the nation grieving as nearly 300 people lost their lives and over 1,100 were injured. The accident emerged as the country's worst rail accident in over two decades.But was the accident avoidable?

The tragic crash that happened in Balasore city involved three trains - Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train.

The Indian Railway is the fourth-largest train network in the world and functions as an integrated organisation providing passenger and freight services. It transports 13 million people every day and movednearly 1.5 billion tonnes of freight in 2022.

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The crash, however, has raised concerns over the safety of Indian railway tracks, bringing to the fore a 2022 report — titled 'Derailment in Indian Railways', by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

The report flagged multiple issues and also recommended a scope of improvement to enhance safety. It pointed out serious concerns related to delayed inspections and, crucial failures, inadequate staffing, and more.

The audit was for the period 2017-18 to 2020-21 of the Indian Railways and was conducted during the year 2021-22. The main focus of the report was to ascertain whether measures to prevent derailments were clearly laid down and implemented by the Ministry of Railways (MoR).

The report stated: "There were shortfalls ranging from 30-100% in inspections by Track Recording Cars required to assess geometrical and structural conditions of railway tracks."

The report mentioned that a total of 422 derailments were attributable to the "Engineering Department", but the major factor responsible for derailment was related to "maintenance of track" (171 cases), which was followed by "deviation of track parameters beyond permissible limits" (156 cases), whilethenumber of derailments attributable to the "Mechanical Department" was 182.

A part of the report read: "The number of accidents attributable to the "Loco Pilots"was 154. "Bad Driving/Over speedingwas the major factor responsible for derailments."

Some would arguewhy prompt actions were not taken.

Notably, the government has been taking steps to improve the infrastructure.The Indian Railway is a 170-year-old system andhas seen rapid expansion and modernisation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to boost infrastructure and connectivity in the fast-growing economy.

This year, the government made a record $30 billion capital outlay for the railways, a 50 per centincrease over the previous fiscal year, to upgrade tracks, ease congestion and add new trains.

Recommendations of the CAG report

It had recommended that timely conductof investigations on derailments (or collisions) and implementation of the preventive recommendations were the other areas of the audit. The report put emphasis on the deployment of funds in accordance with the guidelines of Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK).

In the recommendations, the report said that Indian Railways should ensure strict adherence to the scheduled timelines for conducting and finalisation of accident inquiries.

The department may develop a strong monitoring mechanism to ensure timely implementation of maintenance activities by adopting fully mechanised methods of track maintenance and improved technologies.

It was also mentioned that Railway Administration must follow the "guiding principles for deployment of RRSK funds" to avoid fund constraints in the area of Priority-I works.

Cause of the Odisha crash

Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the cause behind the crash was the "change that occurred during electronic interlocking".

Vaishnaw said that it would be appropriate to wait for the final report before divulging other details.

While speaking to reporters in Bhubaneswar, the rail minister said that "considering the administrative information, Railway Board has been recommending the entire case to the CBI for further investigation".

(With inputs from agencies)

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