The Congress Party on Sunday launched a scathing attack against the Centre over the deadly Utkal Express derailment and indicated that casualties and death due to train accidents soared up after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power.
Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Manish Tewari said that over 27 rail accidents have taken place since BJP came to power which claimed 300 people's life.
"What happened is extremely unfortunate and tragic. Our hearts and mind are with those who lost their life in this rail accident. The government must walk an extra mile to extend extra help. But the fact remains that ever since the Modi Government came into office, there have been 27 major railway accidents. Over 300 people have died and close to 900 people have been seriously injured. So, there it is time for introspections and reflection," he added.
Taking a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tewari said somebody has to take moral responsibility for these incidents.
"When Suresh Prabhu was brought in, he is a good man he was recounted as a reformer, who would completely revamp the Indian railways. Rather than revamp of the Indian Railways we are seeing that the number of major accident. So, he should seriously introspect that should he be continuing as railway minister," he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Sandeep Dikshit said instead of making big plans if the government would have concentrated on daily safety and security aspects of railway then it would have been better.
"I would like to pay my grief with the families. If you see into the whole incident it shows that there was some negligence on the part of administration. Though I don't know the technical reason behind the accident but there it shows that there were some laxity shown on the ground," he said.
More From This Section
"Government should work on the safety and security of people rather than talking about bringing bullet trains or such things which beings headlines," he added.
He further urged Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to "copy" former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's "good management" and work accordingly.
"There is no doubt that Lalu ji did very good well as a railway minister. Even the critics would agree to it. I would request Suresh Prabhu ji to take some copy some of Lalu ji's work and work accordingly.Suresh Prabhu had a good record when he was in the Power Ministry. It can be possible that the Rail Minister is not able to understand the complexities of Railways. He (Lalu) gave good management, trains were running on time and financed better," he added.
Meanwhile, all the trains on the Meerut line have been cancelled or diverted till 6 p.m.
Affected rail route is expected to be cleared and traffic is likely to be restored by 7 p.m. today.
According to a statement by the Northern Railway, General Manager R.K. Kulshrestha is personally monitoring the relief work at site and Addl. General Manager, Northern Railway Manju Gupta is observing medical assistance work in the hospital personally.
Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha along with Member Traffic, Railway Board and DG/Health Railway Services had visited the accident site last night and directed senior railway officials to ensure proper and timely relief and rescue work and provide best possible medical assistance to affected passengers.
Manju Gupta, Addl. General Manager, Northern Railway along with Senior Doctors is personally monitoring the medical assistance to injured persons in Meerut and Muzaffarnagar hospital.
A total of 156 passengers have been injured and 23 passengers reported dead in this unfortunate accident.
Many injured person have discharged after providing first aid assistance. Injured passengers have been admitted in Meerut and Muzaffarnagar Hospitals.