The Hindu : Lack of fire safety measures in trains

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 16, 2003

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National

Lack of fire safety measures in trains

By P.K. Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI MAY 15. Although the Railway Safety Commissioner (Northern) will determine the actual cause of the inferno on the running Frontier Mail after investigations, the accident once again turns the spotlight on the inadequacy of safety measures stemming from the lack of necessary logistic support at the ground level.

Fire accidents involving passenger trains are rare and few. The authorities see fire accidents in moving passenger trains as a rare phenomenon and do not attach importance on the need to guard against such mishaps.

Apart from man-made tragedies in miscreants setting aflame the rolling stock, only three major cases of accidental fire on running trains have so far been reported in the recent past.

The first major fire in a train was reported in 1990. Ninety-three passengers were charred beyond recognition in the inferno that engulfed the local shuttle proceeding from Mokamah to Buxer in Bihar. This mishap was attributed to fire caused by a burning `bidi'.

In 1994-95 around Pooja festivities, a fire broke out in some bogies of the Mumbai -Howrah Express. A cigarette or bidi butt caused the fire in crackers being transported in the passenger trains. The fire spread in no time and 66 deaths were reported in the mishap.

In the latest incident, sabotage is not being ruled out. The authorities are awaiting the findings of the Safety Commissioner. The Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, does not want to jump to any conclusion on the cause of the accident, while expressing shock over the large number of casualties. However, going by eyewitness accounts and information available with the Railway Board, the fire was apparently caused by electric sparks. Even as the railways is chasing the goal of safe travel by taking measures to enhance safety on rails, the fire aspect virtually figures nowhere. The rule book identifying the major causes impairing safety and leading to accidents does not list fire as a major reason thus downgrading necessary precautionary measures.

Two each of the six major identified reasons for rail accidents are related to track and signal related problems. The other two causes are connected with faulty bridges and unreliability of the rolling stocks.

According to insiders, the large number of additional trains - estimated at 300 in the past six years -- has increased the workload on the train examining personnel manifold in the wake of the freeze on recruitments.

The Railways Minister has acknowledged the lack of hands for safety related purposes and announced the recruitment of 20,000 extra Group D staff for this specific purpose.

It is a moot point whether the recruitment will follow the purpose mentioned in this year's budget speech or would fall prey to political machinations.

There are dos and don'ts prescribed for passengers to safeguard against fire hazard during travel.

However, there is hardly any enforcement of these norms nor have provisions been made for fire extinguishers or other fire-fighting gadgets on the moving train. Will the lip service to deal with fire risk on trains stop now?.

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