Two tragedies in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat show the deadly cost of official apathy
The death of three school children when their van was hit by a speeding train while crossing a manned level crossing in Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu and that of another nine persons when a 40-year-old dilapidated bridge in Vadodara in Gujarat collapsed are instances of governmental apathy leading to the loss of precious human lives. There will be official mourning, routine explanations and a couple of suspensions and the cases will be forgotten forever.
The Railways has come up with a ludicrous explanation that the railway gate was indeed closed when the school van approached it. According to its explanation, the van driver pressured the gate keeper into opening the gates as he was getting late for school. The van driver and the injured surviving student insist that the gate was indeed opened while the local residents have a litany of complaints against the man for dereliction of duty.
The Railways should at least be honest about the tragic episode and see if there are lapses on its part so that they are remedied. There used to be several instances of accidents where people in their dozens were killed at unmanned level crossings. The Railways has almost ended that history by years of planning and investment; it must now look honestly into the latest episode and take steps to ensure that no unsuspecting passenger lost their life for lack of possible safety measures. School children, or for that matter, no human being, should be made to pay for the lapses of the institutions.
Reports suggest the people of the region have been complaining about the condition of the bridge on Mahisagar river and its maintenance for quite some time but to no avail. Here, too, unsuspecting men and women rushing to their places of work in the morning are made to pay for the lousy job done by irresponsible people. The political leadership has also failed in this case as it played deaf when local residents raised the alarm.
Safety standards and their audit must be made a part of governance, should we wish to avoid a repeat of the Tamil Nadu and Gujarat accidents.
