DEADLY NEGLIGENCE
BLAME game is the natural fallout after a deadly tragedy takes place in India. And the Amritsar disaster is no exception (“Train barrels through revellers, over 50 die,” Oct.20, The Gulf Today).
The municipal authorities blaming the organisers for not taking permission, the organisers passing the buck on to the law and order machinery, the railways washing their hands on the issue stating that the victims were not commuters, will not halt deaths on the tracks.
If anything, all the above are guilty. Reports in the media state that the chief guest was the wife of state minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, which means that the administration were in the know and so they should have put necessary safety measures in place considering that the venue was close to the railway tracks. It is such lackadaisical attitude from the administrative departments which leads to tragedies.
The Indian Railways have a poor safety record and is among the top in the world in train accidents and casualties. It time the railways focus their energies on upgrading security and safety systems along the tracks instead of spending resources on bullet train projects and the likes.
Sushil Vaidya
By email