Fire in Bangalore-Nanded train, 26 people dead

Fire accidents on trains double in two years

The fire in the Nanded-Bangalore Express train that killed 26 people and left 8 people injured, has added to the increasing incidence of fire accidents on the Indian Railways. The accident was followed by the usual announcement of relief packages and high level official visits, but what appears startling is the doubling of the number of fire accidents in the last two years.

According to official data, fire accidents claim merely 2 per cent of total lives lost. But from two accidents in 2010-11, the number rose to four in 2011-12 and further multiplied to eight in 2012-13. Saturday’s accident occurred near Kothacheru railway station in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh when the fire broke out in the AC III tier coach-B1.

BURNING TRAIN

• 18 April 2011 – Three coaches of the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express caught fire near Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh. No passenger was harmed
• 12 July 2011 - New Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express’s coach caught fire on the outskirts of Delhi. No casualty
• 22 November 2011 - Howrah-Dehradun express train caught fire; 7 burnt to death
• 30 July 2012 - A coach of the Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express (New Delhi-Chennai) caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. 32 people died, 25 injured
• 16 October 2012 - A bogie of the Solapur-bound train from Hyderabad caught fire at Gulbarga. 2 dead, 7 injured
• 30 Nov 2012 - Two AC coaches of GT Express caught fire near Gwalior
• March 29, 2013-Fire in AP Express, near Nagpur
• 28 December 2013 - An AC coach of the 16594 Bangalore City-Hazur Sahib Nanded express caught fire near Kothacheruvu in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh. At least 26 people died and 8 injured

Source: Indian Railways

It is not that the Railways is not aware about the steps that could prevent such a disaster. A high level safety review committee, headed by Anil Kakodkar, had recommended in February 2012 that flame detection systems be put in coaches. It asked for improving safety standards concerning fire accidents. The current ‘dry chemical powder’ type portable fire extinguishers were insufficient in controlling fire. Also, the experiments with fire alarms based on smoke detection in moving coaches have not been a success. However, most of the recommendations are yet to be implemented. In fact, funds have been lying unutilised. The Comptroller and Auditor General, in a recent report said the railway safety fund has been under-utilised for the past few years. In 2011-12, about Rs 670 crore lay in the fund.

Though the exact cause of the accident would only be known after the fact-finding committee under the Railway Commissioner of Safety submits its report, an official said there were increasing instances of power overloading in trains these days.

The Kakodkar committee report notes that unlike aviation safety standards, where  in case of emergency landing and take-off, the evacuation time of all passengers must be designed and demonstrated within 90 seconds, the Railways has no such standard. Besides, passengers cannot jump out of emergency windows without any aid in the event of some accident to their train.

The committee noted that the absence of an independent safety regulator by an independent agency separate from operations is a cause of worry. It argued that there is an inherent conflict of interest as the Railway Board has the ‘unique distinction of being the rule maker, operator and the regulator, all wrapped into one.’ It was observed that the Commissioners of Railway Safety, which work under the ministry of aviation, have a negligible role at the operational level.

The committee had recommended setting up a statutory Railway Safety Authority. It also ‘strongly advised’ to stop the introduction of new trains without adequate inputs to the existing infrastructure.