Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is camping at the Balasore district where the tragic train accident claimed 288 lives, has said that officials have identified the root cause and the people responsible for the tragedy.
The Minister told ANI that the accident happened due to change in electronic interlocking. "The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it... It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking. Right now, our focus is on restoration," the minister added.
#WATCH | The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it... It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking. Right now our focus is on… pic.twitter.com/UaOVXTeOKZ
— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2023
He added that the focus right now is on restroration process. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspected the site yesterday. We will try to restore the track today. Our target is to finish the restoration work by Wednesday so that trains can start running on this track," the minister added.
The Minister also clarified that the accident had nothing to do with the lack of anti-collision 'Kavach' system. His response came after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the Railways over the absence of the Kavach system, stating this was the reason for the accident.
Kavach is an automatic train protection system indigenously developed by the Research Design and Standard Organization (RDSO) in collaboration with the Indian industry with trials facilitated by the South Central Railway. It prevents trains from passing the red stop signal, thus avoiding chances of collision.
"It has nothing to do with Kavach. The reason is not what Mamata Banerjee said yesterday," said Ashwini Vaishnaw, adding that the accident involved point machine and electronic interlocking. "The change that occured during electronic interlocking happened due to it. Whoever did it and how it happened will be found out after a proper investigation," the Minister told ANI.
Besides Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is also the Balasore railway accident site. Pradhan said rescue work is over. "We are working with the local administration to send people affected back home," he said. He added that the big challenge is to restore tracks so that the railway link between two important wings of the country can start functioning.
"By Tuesday we should be able to do it," the minister said. According to Railway officials restoring at least two lines -up and down - is absolutely essential
