Page 44 - Odisha

Tracks at Balasore train accident site repaired, says Ashwini Vaisnaw

Government on Sunday said that both the Up and Down railway tracks at Balasore accident site have been repaired. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted that track linking Up-line has been restored and overhead electification work has also started. "Track linking of Up-line has been done at 16.45 hours. Overhead electrification work started," Vaishnaw tweeted on Sunday. He had earlier tweeted that the down line which links Howrah has been restored. Officials said this implies that at least one set of railway tracks were now fit for trains, but more time will be required to fix all tracks, which include loop lines, at the Balasore accident site. However, till the overhead electric cable are repaired, only diesel locomotives can be run on the two line which have been repaired. Once the overhead electric lines are repaired, electric trains can start plying. They indicated that this would take another three days. Three trains Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah

Over 1,500 people stuck at station in Bengaluru following train mishap

More than 1,500 passengers including a large number of labourers are stranded at the Byappanahalli Railway Station here due to the cancelled trains as a fallout of the train derailment in Odisha. With a big crisis unfolding at the Byappanahalli, the labour department and the Bengaluru civic agency on Sunday arranged food, water and mobile toilets for the passengers stuck at the railway station. On the directions of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the government departments joined hands to provide basic facilities including food and water to the stranded labourers and passengers whose trains to Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and other north-eastern states have been cancelled. Various social organisations too joined to serve the passengers stuck at the railway station.

Odisha train tragedy: TN yet to get info on 8 of 127 passengers from state

The state government communique called upon the relatives of these missing persons to contact the state helpline numbers: 1070, 9445869843

Isn't non-compliance of CAG 2022 report enough for minister to resign: NCP

The NCP on Sunday sought to know why the measures suggested in the 2022 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report to prevent train disasters were not implemented by the Centre, and asked if this non-adherence was not enough for Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to resign in the wake of the Odisha train tragedy. The party also alleged that as per the CAG report, train accidents were waiting to happen due to several shortcomings, but the railway ministry and the minister failed to take this warning seriously. The Odisha train crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,500 passengers, and a goods train occurred around 7 pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore. At least 288 people died and over 1,100 injured in the accident, the worst rail accident in India in nearly three decades. The tragedy has triggered a debate over the Kavach anti-collision system with the opposition parties,

Odisha govt revises triple train accident's death toll to 275 from 288

The Odisha government on Sunday revised the triple train accident's death toll to 275 from 288, and put the number of injuries at 1,175. According to Chief Secretary P K Jena, some bodies were counted twice. "After detailed verification and a report by Balasore District Collector, the final toll has been fixed at 275," he said. Jena said the injured are being treated in different hospitals in Soro, Balasore, Bhadrak and Cuttack. "So far, 793 passengers have been discharged and 382 are being treated at government cost," he said. Jena said 88 bodies have been identified so far and 78 handed over to their families while 187 were yet to be identified. The chief secretary said proper identification of the bodies was the biggest challenge. "DNA sampling will be done and photographs of the deceased will be uploaded on government websites," he said. Jena said 9 teams of NDRF, 5 ODRAF units and 24 fire services teams were engaged in the rescue operations, which are now complete. He said

Odisha train crash: Driver error ruled out, possible sabotage being probed

The railways on Sunday virtually ruled out driver error and system malfunction, indicating a possible "sabotage" and tampering of the electronic interlocking system behind the triple train accident that claimed at least 288 lives in Odisha. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the "root cause" of the accident and the "criminals" responsible for it have been identified. "It happened due to a change made in the electronic interlocking and point machine," he told reporters at the site of the accident in Balasore district. Here in Delhi, top railway officials explained how the point machine and the interlocking system function. They said the system is "error proof" and "fail safe" but did not rule out the possibility of outside intervention. "It is called a fail safe system, so it means that even if it fails, all the signals will turn red and all train operations will stop. Now, as the minister said there was a problem with the signalling system. It could be that someone has done so

Goa: StartUp20 Engagement Group delegates condole Odisha train tragedy

The two-day meeting of the StartUp20 Engagement Group, part of India's G20 presidency, culminated in Goa on Sunday with delegates expressing solidarity with victims of the Odisha train accident. At least 288 people were killed and more than 1,100 injured in the crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train took place on Friday evening near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha's Balasore district. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the StartUp20 Engagement Group meeting in Goa, Ashish Sinha, joint secretary, Union Ministry of External Affairs, said the meeting took place in a sombre environment because of the train accident on Friday. All the delegations expressed condolences to the victims, their families and also wished a speedy recovery to the injured people, he said. He said there is a norm in the G20 meetings that foreign delegates are given an introduction about the local culture, for which programmes

Odisha police warns against giving communal colour to triple train tragedy

Odisha Police Sunday appealed to all sections to desist from circulating rumours giving a communal colour to Balasore's triple train accident where at least 275 people have died and over 1,100 injured. The Odisha police also warned that severe legal action will be initiated against those found trying to create communal disharmony by spreading any rumor. Taking to twitter, the Odisha police said: It has come to notice that some social media handles are mischievously giving a communal colour to the tragic train accident at Balasore. This is highly unfortunate. It added,"We appeal to all concerned to desist from circulating such false and ill-motivated posts. Severe legal action will be initiated against those who are trying to create communal disharmony by spreading rumours." Among other social media messages were some which linked a structure near the rail accident site with a particular community, which many others have condemned.

Fatigued, shocked Tamil Nadu train accident survivors recount trauma

For several survivors of the Odisha train accident who arrived here on Sunday in a special train, the trauma they endured is unlikely to dissipate soon and it was more than shock and disbelief for them. A woman, who is a native of Kerala said she had only seen accidents on televisions and when she experienced it herself, she was terrified. "The bed sheets given to passengers were used to carry the injured and it turned red with blood; a dreadful scene," she told reporters here. The general compartment was overpacked well beyond its capacity, she said recalling what she said she saw. Wearied by the tragedy and the long journey as well, a man said seeing blood, severed limbs and bodies of men and women lying scattered was tormenting. Another passenger who was injured said: "I was asleep in compartment S-1. All of a sudden I heard a bang and before I could realise what happened I almost fainted after something like a rod hit the side of my rib cage." He was taken away in a wheelchair

Odisha train accident: UK Foreign Secretary expresses condolences

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the Odisha train tragedy which left over 280 people dead. The crash in Odisha's Balasore district involving three trains is one of the worst rail accidents in India in nearly three decades. The accident on Friday left over 280 people dead and more than 1,100 others injured. Tragic news of the train crash in India. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. My thoughts are with the survivors and emergency services, said Cleverly. Lord Tariq Ahmad, the UK Foreign Office Minister for South Asia who has just returned from a visit to India, also took to social media over the weekend to express his solidarity. Distressing scenes and reports from #OdishaTrainAccident in #India which has already claimed the lives of close to 300 people and with many injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted as well as the emergency teams working on this tragic accident, ...

Odisha train tragedy: Initial probe indicates flaws in signalling system

She further explained that only the Coromandel Express was involved in the accident and fell on the down-line (the main line) on which the Yashwantpur Express was approaching

Train crash: PIL seeks to set up inquiry commission under retired SC judge

A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre for setting up an inquiry commission headed by a retired apex court judge to probe the cause of the train accident in Odisha's Balasore district that has left 288 people dead. The plea filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari also sought directions to the Centre to immediately set up an expert commission headed by retired judge of the apex court and consisting of technical members to analyse and review the risk and safety parameters in the railway system and to suggest systematic safety modifications for strengthening Railway safety mechanism and submit its report to the court. The plea submitted that non-implementation of Kavach system at the earliest has resulted in a massive loss of life and damage of public property which imputes direct liability of gross negligence and breach of duty of care by respondent authorities. The enquiry commission headed by a retired apex court judge should conclude its probe in two ..

Change in electronic interlocking caused train accident: Ashwini Vaishnaw

The root cause of the three-train crash in Odisha's Balasore district and the people responsible for it have been identified, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday as rescue work at the site of the accident ended with the Railways aiming to restore normal services on the affected tracks in the next few days. As the tragedy triggered a debate over the Kavach anti-collision system, the Congress demanded the resignation of the railway minister and asked when will the Modi government implement the much-hyped system nationwide, after testing. Vaishnaw maintained that the train crash had nothing to do with the Kavach system. The change that was done to electronic interlocking which led to the accident has been identified, Vaishnaw, who has been camping at the site of the train accident along with Union Minister Dharmendar Pradhan, said. He said the issue is of electric point machine, a vital device for railway signalling, and electronic interlocking. "The setting of the point

Death toll in triple train accident stands at 275, says Odisha govt

The Odisha government on Sunday said the death figure in the tragic triple train accident at Bahanaga station in Balasore stood at 275

Odisha tragedy: South Central Railway announces cancellation of more trains

The South Central Railway (SCR) has announced cancellation of few more trains due to train disaster in Odisha in Kharagpur-Bhadrak section of South Eastern Railway.

Our responsibility to establish normalcy: Pradhan on Odisha train accident

Union Minister of Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said that strict action will be taken against those responsible for the Odisha triple accident

Balasore train accident: Track laying work done on one of two main lines

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who took stock of the restoration work at the Balasore train accident site in Odisha on Sunday said that track laying has ben done on one of the two main lines

'Electronic interlocking' behind Balasore train accident: Railway Minister

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that the tragic train accident in Odisha's Balasore occurred due to a "change in electronic interlocking"

Odisha train tragedy: List of injured, deceased passengers put on websites

To facilitate smooth identification of victims of the Balasore train mishap, the Odisha government has uploaded the details of passengers on three websites

Help desk at Bhubaneswar civic body office to assist Balasore victims

A help desk has been set up at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation on Sunday to provide assistance to train accident victims in Odisha's Balasore