Odisha train accident: What can the CBI achieve?

New Delhi: The hurried nature of the Railway Board's decision in recommending a CBI inquiry into Friday's ghastly train crash at Balasore has raised eyebrows. 

According to the Railways Act of 1895 (subsequently amended), the office of the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CCRS) is mandatorily required to investigate accidents that have led to passenger deaths. 

In the case of major accidents — such as the Khanna and Gaisal accidents — judicial commissions headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court had been set up. 

Also read: Odisha train crash: Two reports by Railways give two different versions

The NIA investigated the Samjhauta blast case, while the state Police were assigned the task of probing cases of train attacks by Naxal elements. 

In recent memory, the 2009 accident involving the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani was the only instance of the CBI having been engaged. At that time, then Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee had persuaded the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to hand over the case to the CBI. Nothing conclusive emerged from the CBI inquiry. 

In all probabilities, the CBI will need to depend heavily on the CRS for inputs. 

Opposition leaders are asking this question: Is the CBI being sought to be roped in with the idea of taking the heat off the Railways and diverting attention from critical issues concerning rail safety? 

Rail Safety issues 

Issues concerning the need to scale up processes of rail safety are far too many. Internal reports of the Indian Railways suggest that electronic interlocking failures — similar to the one that happened at Balasore — have happened in other railway zones.

Also read: Odisha train accident: How Indian Railways is negligent to safety needs

The 2022 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) brings out this startling fact: That, in the five years from 2017 to 2022, there were more than 1000 cases of derailment of trains across India. 

As the CAG report points out, the overall expenditure on priority-1 works of the Rashtriya Rail Suraksha Kosh - a five-year rail safety fund instituted by the Narendra Modi government — showed a declining trend — from 81.55 per cent in 2017-18 to 73.76 per cent in 2019-20. 

The allotment of funds for track renewal declined from Rs 9607.65 crores in 2018-19 to Rs 7417 crores in 2019-20. 

Funds allocated for track renewal were also not fully utilised. In past years, there has also been an estimated shortage of 3 lakh employees; approximately half of these being safety-related posts. 

Dovetailing modernisation needs with Safety drills

Across a route length of 68,043 kilometres, the Indian Railways run 10,250 passenger trains, ferrying approximately 24 million passengers every day. As more and more trains have rained down the network in past years, tracks have remained saturated and clogged; with the time available for routine maintenance activity having shrunk. 

Also read: How humanity died a million deaths in Balasore

In past years, substantial funds have been infused into big-ticket projects such as the manufacturing of the Vande Bharat semi-high speeds and the manufacturing of high-powered locomotives. 

However, routine maintenance needs — including the training needs of the workforce — appear to have been neglected. 

The Balasore crash comes as a stark reality check on the need for the Railways to revert to the basics in terms of adherence to the safety drills.