Balasore train accident: Rail Ministry transfers 5 senior officials of SE Railway
New Delhi: Twenty days after the terrible triple train mishap occurred in Odisha’s Balasore on June 2, the Ministry of Railways on Thursday transferred five senior officials of South Eastern Railway. In an official order dated June 22, the Special Director of the Establishment Department of Railboard, Ravinder Pandey mentioned that KR Chaudhary, the Chairman of Ajmer has been transferred as the new Divisional Railway Manager (DRM)/ Kharagpur of South Eastern Railway in the place of Mohd Sujat Hashmi.
This apart, Mohd Owais, Principal Chief Commercial Manager (PCCM) has been transferred to Northeast Frontier Railway as CAO/System. Satyaki Nath is the new PCCM of South Eastern Railway. Principal Chief Commercial Manager is the Head of the Commercial Department. The functions of the PCCM include the sale of transportation provided by the Railway, fixation of rates, fares and other charges and their correct collection, accounting and remittance.
Further, PM Sikdar, currently posted as Principal Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer (PCSTE) has been transferred to North Central Railway as PCSTE and OSD. Chandan Adhikary, Principal Chief Safety Officer (PCSO) of South Eastern Railway has been transferred to Northeast Frontier Railway along with the post and OSD. It is also mentioned in the official order that the joining date will be informed to the officials.
However, no railway officials responded while quizzed. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is doing the investigation of the biggest train accident in the last two decades in India, which claimed around 300 lives and left over 1,000 injured. The Chennai-bound 12841 Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express crashed into iron ore goods train, derailing most of its coaches and many coaches of the express train toppled over the Howrah-bound 12864 Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express, which was passing by at the same time.
Meanwhile, CBI is questioning several railway officials, including a signal engineer. Millennium Post reported on June 7 that the preliminary investigation started on the day of the accident, the relay room at Bahanaga Bazar station, where the incident occurred, was found open, which is a very serious safety lapse. The relay room is normally manned by Signal and Telecom (S&T) staff, but it has two keys to the lock. One key is with the Station Master and the other key is with the S&T staff. As per the rule, the relay room is opened only when no train is running. If there is a need to open the relay room during train operation, it is signed in the S&T Staff Movement Authorization Register and it is written that the safe operation of the train can take place if the relay room is open. As the investigation continues, the CBI aims to uncover the truth behind this tragic event.
