Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the recent Odisha triple train accident. In the letter, Kharge highlights the consistent flaws in decision-making that have led to unsafe railway travel and calls for accountability to be fixed for technical, institutional, and political failures.
Kharge also criticizes Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for claiming to have already found the root cause of the accident while requesting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate. Kharge argues that the CBI, as well as any other law enforcement agency, does not possess the necessary technical expertise in railway safety, signalling, and maintenance practices to investigate the incident.
Kharge further questions the decision not to roll out the anti-train-collision system developed by the Konkan Railway, called Raksha Kavach, during the previous government’s tenure, and why a measly 4 percent of Indian Railway routes have been protected by Kavach to date.
In the letter, Kharge expresses serious concern among common passengers about the rising deterioration of safety and calls on the government to prioritize the installation of mandatory safety standards and equipment across all railway routes.
The Odisha triple train accident occurred on June 2 near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district and involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Express, Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, and a goods train.
