Kasara accident exposes CR’s poor emergency response

The recent railway accident near Kasara station has exposed the Central Railway's (CR) poor emergency response system.

The recent railway accident near Kasara station has exposed the Central Railway's (CR) poor emergency response system.

HT Image

With a huge boulder obstructing the track, 11 coaches of a CST-bound Kasara local derailed, leading to collision with the Vidarbha Express at 9.31pm on Thursday. One passenger died while 14 others were injured in the accident.

Though the CR informed the accident medical response equipment (AMRE) team at Kalyan and Igatpuri about the accident within 10 minutes, it took them more than two hours to reach the spot.

“The AMRE team stationed at Igatpuri should have reached the spot within an hour,” said an official on the condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Despite being stationed more than 60km from the accident site, the AMRE from Kalyan reached the spot around the same time as the Igatpuri team. Belonging to the scale-I category, both teams should have had medical experts and 180 types of medicines and equipment.

CR spokesperson AK Singh said the AMRE from Igatpuri was informed about the accident at 9.41pm and managed to reach the accident site within one-and-a-half hour.

The AMRE from Kalyan, which was informed about the accident a few minutes later, reached the site at 11.14pm. Moreover, the ambulance that was to come from Kasara, just 6-7km from the spot, reached the accident site at 11.50pm, said another source.

However, the Thane district administration acted swiftly and took all the injured to the hospital before the railway medical teams arrived.

CR general manager, Subodh Jain, admitted that this was true.