SLugfest:
(When Mamata Banerjee was Railway Minister and after the Sainthia rail accident in 2010 which claimed 66 lives. she spoke of a “CPIM conspiracy” and got busy attending/addressing her political rally!
Then Home Minister P. Chidambaram had publicly said that the “railway relief efforts have been tardy in Sainthia.”)
The Railway Board has sought the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the deadly train accident near Bahanaga Bazar in Balasore district that has so far claimed 275 lives.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw briefing reporters here on Sunday said: “The Railway Board has recommended for the institution of CBI probe into the unfortunate rail mishap. The probe will look into the circumstances leading to the mishap and those responsible for the tragedy.”
Earlier, the Railways Ministry had ordered a high-level inquiry headed by the Commissioner Railway Safety into the horrific rail crash.
Meanwhile, the railway authorities said that the rescue operation in the wake of the rail disaster is complete. The restoration work for early resumption of train services on the busy route is going on a war footing.
Both the Up and Down railway tracks at Balasore accident site have been repaired. The track linking Up-line has been restored and overhead electrification work has also started. The entire operation is a huge task and authorities are on the job completion of work at the earliest. The train service restoration is likely by Wednesday next.
"Root cause of Odisha train mishap identified – wrongdoers identified," says Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
"The root cause of Odisha train mishap has been identified – people who have done this work have also been identified. The CRS inquiry report – the reason why the accident happened will also be known early.” - Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Sunday said the root cause of the train accident that claimed 275 lives and the people responsible for it have been identified, and said the inquiry report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety would be known soon.
In an interview to Doordarshan, Vaishnaw said, “The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) was at the site yesterday… CRS has taken statements from all people, and has proceeded fast. The root cause has been identified – people who have done this work have also been identified. The CRS inquiry report – the reason why the accident happened will also be known early.”
To a question whether he could comment if the accident happened due to a technical or human error or because of anti-social elements, Vaishnaw said, “It is not right to comment on this… it is possible to comment, but not proper… I can say only after the independent agency (CRS) submits its report. But the probe is over…”
He also said the accident had nothing to do with what Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal Chief Minister and former Railway Minister) claimed on Saturday. Mamata Banerjee had on Saturday said the accident could have been averted had the train been fitted with an anti-collision device.
“I want to clarify – this accident is not about the collision avoidance system,” he said. “Whoever has done this, has done such a change – on the point machine, the configuration of the track – based on which everything runs…
There has been a change in that configuration, because of which this painful accident has happened. But I will comment on that only after the report of the independent agency is submitted,” said Vaishnaw.
After visiting the injured at a hospital in Balasore in Odisha on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, “Strictest action will be taken against those found guilty in the train accident incident. No one will be spared.”
Political slugfest has erupted in West Bengal over the Odisha train tragedy after Trinamool Congress's National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee sought resignation of Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Dr Anirban Ganguly...... BJP leader from West Bengal and party's National Executive Committee tweeted flaying Mamata Banerjee's stint as the Railway Minister.
"She was the “century’s biggest” disastrous Railway Minister of India and later went on to become the “century’s biggest” disaster Chief Minister of West Bengal. In her 15 months tenure as “absentee Railway Minister” between 2009-2011: She missed 68% cabinet meetings. Functioned out of Kolkata while files piled up at Railway Bhavan - these files were mainly to do with Railway safety, reform, passenger amenities etc", Ganguly tweeted.
He further wrote - "Nearly 200 rail accidents - which left 400+ people dead, 600 injured; 90,000 appointments related to Railway Safety were kept pending because of her absenteeism, out of 1,99,494 posts which she did not fill up!
"As Railway Minister she had awarded Rs 761 Cr contract to the same company which she awarded a contract later as CM for constructing a flyover in north Kolkata’s Vivekananda Rd. The under construction flyover collapsed in 2016 killing 22 people and injuring 78! No one was taken to task!
After the Sainthia rail accident in 2010 which claimed 66 lives in her tenure as Railway Minister, instead of attending to relief operations she spoke of a “CPI-M conspiracy” and got busy attending/addressing her political rally! Then Home Minister P.Chidambaram had publicly said that the “railway relief efforts have been tardy in Sainthia.”
Of her Budgeting “skills” as Railway Minister, the T.R.Baalu Parliamentary Panel had said: “The Committee is constrained to consider it as bad budgeting and desires that the Railways should be more realistic in projecting their estimates, Ganguly added.
 |
| Blogger |
When asked to comment on former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's remark that "negligence" by the Modi government has "destroyed railways", BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad shot back saying the former Bihar CM was embroiled in a number of “scams” and was busy securing bail.
"His achievements as Railway Minister are there for all to see. He is facing investigations in the land for hotels scam and the land for jobs scam, and busy securing bail in both cases", quipped Prasad.
No comments:
Post a Comment