Date:14/03/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/03/14/stories/2003031403191200.htm

National

Godhra report tabled in LS

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MARCH 13. Almost a year after one of the coaches of the Sabarmati Express was set afire at Godhra in Gujarat, the Railway Ministry today presented a report in the Lok Sabha that put the death toll in the carnage at 59.

Several political parties had been demanding tabling of a report on the tragedy in Parliament, and there were charges that details of the casualties in the ill-fated coach of the Ahmedabad-bound express train had been suppressed.

The report tabled today said 59 had died, 19 of them remained unidentified. Twenty-one passengers had suffered simple injuries.

On February 27, 2002, even the reserved coaches were so jampacked that even the ticket checking staff could not enter them, said the 17-page report tabled by the Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar.

Keeping in view statements in some quarters that the Railways were not disclosing full details of the passengers travelling in the coach which was burnt, the report said the railway administration had all along been transparent in giving information.

``The Railways made special efforts to collect information about the passengers who had secured reservation, by making personal contact with them and their relatives on the addresses given in the requisition slips submitted by them at the reservation counter.''

Giving details of the exercise undertaken by it, the Ministry said that officials visited the addresses obtained from the slips.

``This was a massive exercise. More than 150 officials worked for days together at a stretch, travelling to even far-flung and remote places to contact either the passengers themselves or their family members or neighbours.''

``Despite our best efforts it has not been possible to contact/trace some of the passengers or their relatives/ neighbours on account of various reasons such as incorrect address, illegible address.

In some cases, neighbours were unable to give any information,'' it said.

It said that subsequent information from the results of DNA tests had revealed that 58 bodies/remains of burnt people were extracted from the coach in the presence of the police.

The identified bodies were handed over to the next of kin by the State Government officials.

The report said that 28 passengers in the coach had travelled safely and three were stated to be missing. So far 62 claims have been lodged in the Railway Claims Tribunal, Ahmedabad of which two were found duplicate.

Out of the 60 claims, 48 pertain to death, nine to injuries and three to missing persons. The Ministry has paid a total of Rs. 7.35 lakh as ex-gratia to the dead who had been identified.