Who?
Anil Kakodkar, Ex-Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission
E. Sreedharan, Ex-Chief of Delhi Metro Rail Corp.
When?
2011
Why?
- 70 passengers died in Kalka Mail accident in July 2011, necessitated a "holistic assessment" of additional measures to enhance rail safety.
- So, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi formed this panel, to lay down a road map on the long- and short-term safety-related issues of Railways.
What are the problems?
- 30 per cent of the derailments are caused by "defective tracks"
- Department is procuring "sub-standard sparesparts"
- 40 percent of all railway accidents happen at the unmanned level crossings.
- 42 per cent accidents are caused by railways' own staff between 10pm and 6am, because they're overworked and hence not alert enough.
- 3,000-plus rail bridges are very old and not monitored scientifically= a perennial safety hazard each time a train passes over.
- Indian Railways is using most corridors beyond 100 per cent and it is difficult to carry out planned and systematic maintenance on trunk routes, as there is no time available due to excess traffic.
Recommendations of Kakodkar Panel on Railway Safety
Setup New institutes
- An independent rail safety authority and put commissioners of railway safety under it.
- Set up Railway Research and Development Council (RRDC)
Replace Toilets
- Due to pH content etc. of the toilet discharge, there is widespread corrosion of the railway trackss. These toilets need to be discontinued.
- Maintenance workers often refuse to service the undercarriage of the trains because discharge from toilets keep the undercarriage extremely dirty."
- Railways have been experimenting with zero-discharge toilets for years but have not yet completed the field trials to deploy them in passenger coaches.
Elimination of all level crossings.
- Replace r 32,000 crossings with overbridges and subways over the next five years
- It'll Require Rs 50,000 crore, but the Railways would save Rs 7,000 crore by way of not having to maintain the crossings.
New Infrastructure and technology
- Adopt an advanced signaling system based on continuous track circuiting and cab signaling similar to European train control system.
- All new coaches should only be of LHB design, which is safer for present speeds and train lengths.
Where is the Money?
- The Railways will need Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years to implement Kakodkar's recommendations. Panel suggests at least one-third of the cost, about 30,000 crore, is recovered from passengers in surcharges over and above the ticket fare.
- Given the populist bent of most leaders who have headed the department, this is an unlikely course. The railways, it seems, is headed for disaster.
Thanks for the post, its gives to the point information...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Precised info mrunal
ReplyDeleteThe question still remains how remaining 70,000 crore comes from.
Every often the panels are made, they give their ideas & suggestion but are the Government really bothered about it and if so will the opposition party approve it during budget 2012?