Sidhu blames train driver, rivals seek resignation

Manmeet Singh Gill
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 22

Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday blamed the Railways for the mishap that left 58 dead at Joda Phatak amid Friday’s Dasehra celebrations. He didn’t comment on the “lapses” on the part of the organisers, the police and Municipal Corporation (MC) officials, who have been in the eye of the storm since the tragedy.

While responding to a query of The Tribune regarding whether or not he saw Mithu Madan’s fault, who was the main organiser of the event, Sidhu said, “The land (track on which people were standing), the engine, the driver, the guards and the police (GRP) belong to the Railways.”

Meanwhile, his rivals have been demand his resignation over the mishap.

Sidhu went on to say that the GRP patrol failed to detect the tall effigy which had been erected there a day before the event. “The police permission was for the walled ground. The track is around 60 feet away from the outer wall and it is the property of the Railways. The diesel multiple unit (DMU) is called ‘ladooan wali gaddi’ in local parlance because of its slow speed. Why was it running at such a high speed on the day of accident?” he questioned.

Sidhu also questioned why the guard at the railway crossing, which is just 200 metre away from the accident site, could not see that people were standing on the track.

Sidhu, along with PPCC president Sunil Jakhar, was at the GMC to meet the injured of the train mishap. Jakhar said, “Even after minor railway accidents, inquiry is must by the commissioner of railway safety. It is perhaps the first instance in which an inquiry hasn’t been marked, which raises many questions.”

He added the investigation being carried out would identify those responsible for the mishap. The main organiser of the event, Saurabh, aka Mithu Madan, is the son of a Congress councillor and considered a blue-eyed boy of Sidhu. The Local Bodies Minister’s wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu was the chief guest at the event.

Earlier, Mithu had been in the eye of the storm after he had used his influence to get a public servant transferred for conducting an anti-encroachment drive in his area.