PIL filed in Supreme Court seeking panel to probe Odisha train mishap: Report
Odisha train mishap: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the horrific accident occurred due to a change in electronic interlocking.
A public interest litigation (PIL) was on Sunday filed before Supreme Court seeking direction to Centre for setting up an inquiry commission headed by retired apex court judge to probe cause of Odisha train accident which killed at least 290 passengers, PTI reported.
Earlier in the day, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the horrific accident occurred due to a change in electronic interlocking, adding that the commissioner of railway safety has probed the matter and identified the cause of incident and people responsible for it.
The minister responded to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's question over the absence of anti-collision system ‘Kavach’. Vaishnaw said that it is a different issue and involves point machine and interlocking.
The Railway Board while explaining the cause of the accident which took place on Friday night, had ruled out that the Coromandel Express was overspeeding. Railway Board member Jaya Varma Sinha said that the preliminary report indicated signalling fault but refused to comment further till the report is submitted. She said that only the Coromandel Express encountered an accident and its engine piled on the goods train on the loop line.
The rescue operation at the accident site is more or less complete, director general, National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) Atul Karwal, said. "The rescue operation is more or less complete. A total of 9 teams comprising around 300 rescuers are at the location right now."
A special train has started its journey from Bhadrak to Bhubaneswar carrying the distressed passengers of the Odisha train accident. The train is only for distressed passengers...From Bhubaneswar the passengers will have to change the train, station manager Subhash Chandra Sahu, told ANI.