Central Railway officials claim CM’s office has been denying them an appointment to discuss key issues, including handling post-accident scenarios better, for nearly six months
The state government and the railways seem to be engaged in a cold war on several issues, including that of providing more ambulances and better medical facilities after accidents.
In the aftermath of the derailment of the Diva-Sawantwadi passenger express train derailment near Roha, in which 22 lives were lost and more than a hundred people were injured, mid-day asked a senior Central Railway official why the railways was not taking the help of the state government in tying up with private hospitals to treat accident victims and for other such issues.
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Also read: Maharashtra train derailment: When will Central Railway wake up?
22 people died and over 120 were injured when a Diva-Sawantwadi train derailed near Roha. PIC/AFP
He said, “We have been asking for at least 6 months now, but the CM’s office has not been giving us an appointment to discuss key issues, which also includes improving medical facilities after a rail accident.”
Other senior CR staff said that even senior bureaucrats in the state government had been denying them appointments. “When accident victims are taken to private hospitals, they are simply turned away and redirected to civic- or state-run hospitals for treatment, which are often very far away. Had the state government intervened, this could have been taken care of before the Roha derailment,” said a CR official.
The railways and the state government have both been avoiding communicating on key issues and railway officials even fear repercussions if they ask their political bosses to intervene. After the Roha derailment, for instance, both Union Minister of Railway Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had gone to the accident site and to meet victims, but there was hardly any discussion on improving the situation in the future.
Railway officials say coordination post-rail accidents has always been an issue and point out that while disaster management is a problem, restarting of train services happens relatively easily.
After the derailment on Sunday, there were not enough ambulances for the injured passengers.
“There were only four ambulances,” said SK Sood, General Manager, Central Railway.
Health Minister Suresh Shetty has, however, claimed that the state government is in the process of introducing 400 more ambulances throughout the state in the days to come.
Despite repeated attempts, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was not available for comment.
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