Probe report on Balasore mishap raises question mark on sabotage theory
Shubhadeep Choudhury
New Delhi, July 4
The report submitted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) with regard to the Bahanaga Bazar (Balasore) triple train accident has raised a question mark on the “sabotage” theory advocated by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The CRS of South Eastern Circle, who is mandated to investigate any train mishap, held the signal and telecommunication (S&T) department responsible for the tragedy that led to the loss of over 290 lives.
“Lapses at various levels in the S & T department were responsible for the accident,” the report stated. The Principal Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer, South Eastern Railway, informed the CRS about the decision to reuse the pre-wired ELB (electric lifting barrier) location box at level crossing-79 at the Balasore station for replacement work at level crossing-94 at the Bahanaga Bazar station. Accordingly, the wiring diagrams of LC-79 were supplied to the S&T staff to carry out the work.
“This was a wrong step that led to wrong wiring,” the CRS stated. The wiring pattern of LC-79 could not be implemented in toto to LC-94 and a lot of alterations had to be done to suit the site conditions. Such a job “should not have been left to the discretion of field supervisors,” the report said and noted the “insignificant involvement at the officer level”. The report pointed out that the rear-collision was due to the “lapses in the signalling-circuit-alteration” carried out at the North Signal Goomty (of the Bahanaga Bazar station) in the past and during the execution of the signalling work related to the replacement of electric lifting barrier for level crossing-94.
