Southern Railway General Manager R.N. Singh has accused the private tour operator from Lucknow of having violated the undertaking given on ensuring safety in the coach, which had led to the death of nine persons in Madurai on Saturday.
However, Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan has blamed that failure on part of railway authorities on safety issue had led to the fire accident. Railway security agencies and railway officials said that illegal use of gas cylinder by the tour operator to make tea inside the coach had led to the fire when the coach was parked on the stable line away from Madurai junction.
“Illegal use of gas cylinder inside the coach has led to the accident,” the General Manager said. The coach had made successful journey for nine days since August 17 and visited many places.
“We had got a undertaking from the tour operator that he would not carry any inflammable materials in the coach. But he has violated it,” he said.
However, when asked as to who should have checked on ensuring that no inflammable materials were carried in the coach, Mr. Singh said that it would have been checked at Lucknow when the coach was attached to the train. “But the operator could have illegally smuggled the gas cylinder into the coach,” he added.
He said that the operator should have maintained the minimum discipline with regard to railway safety.
‘No guidelines’
However, the Madurai MP has said that when there was a ban on carrying gas cylinder in trains, the coach had been carrying it for 10 days during its journey. “The coach has not been inspected at all in any of the stations en route,” he charged.
He expressed apprehension that had the fire accident occurred when the train was running or when the train had entered the station, the magnitude of the damage caused by it could have been unimaginable.
He said that the railways did not have proper set of guidelines to inspect such tourist coaches. Fire extinguishers were available only in air-conditioned coaches and not in non-AC coaches. Mr. Venkatesan said that the railways should fill all vacancies related to railway safety.
CRS enquiry
The General Manager said that stringent action would be taken against the tour operator. Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bengaluru, A.M. Chowdhary, will hold statutory inquiry into the fire accident. The enquiry would be held at the conference hall at Madurai Divisional office at 9.30 a.m. on Sunday.
A statement said that any member of the public having knowledge relating to the incident and matter connected therewith and desiring to give evidence may do so at the DRM’s office on Sunday. They can also write to the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, 2nd Floor, Rail Sanraksha Bhavan, Bengaluru 560023.
