In a horrific collision involving a running train and a school van, three students of a private CBSE school were killed and two others, including the driver, were critically injured at a manned level crossing at Semmankuppam near Cuddalore town, about 189 km from Chennai, on Tuesday morning.
The van which was hit by the Villupuram-Mayiladuthurai Passenger was dragged for about 50 metres and hurled under the impact of the collision. While two of the victims, Nimalesh (12) and Charumathi (16), died on the spot, Chezhiyan (15) died on the way to the JIPMER hospital in Puducherry. The critically injured student Vishvesh (16) and van driver Sankar (47) are undergoing treatment.
It was a non-interlocked manned level crossing and according to eyewitnesses, the gate was not closed by the gatekeeper, Pankaj Sharma, who dozed off, resulting in the accident. Assaulting the gatekeeper, the irate locals also damaged the cabin before the revenue, police, Railway officials, and rescue personnel could reach the accident site. The Southern Railway has suspended the gatekeeper, Pankaj Sharma, for negligence of duty and ordered an inquiry into the incident. He has been arrested.
In a statement, Southern Railway blamed the Cuddalore District Collector for not giving the required permission for the construction of an underpass at the level crossing for which the Railway had accorded sanction more than a year ago with financial allocation. For the past one year, permission has been awaited, according to the Railway.
Explaining away the accident, the statement said “Preliminary inquiry reveals that the gate was in closed condition when the van arrived, however, the van driver insisted on allowing the van to cross the gate to avoid delay in reaching the school, which was wrongly permitted by the gatekeeper, violating rules and protocol… The gatekeeper has been suspended and a process has been initiated for his dismissal from service and an FIR has been lodged against him for this criminal negligence, and the gatekeeper has been arrested.” The Railways has also announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh each to the family of the victims, Rs 2.5 lakh to the grievously injured, and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
However, van driver Shankar contradicting the Railways’ stand told the media at the hospital that the gate was not closed and there was no horn from the arriving train. Locals also confirmed this.
Condoling the deaths, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has ordered a solatium of Rs 5 lakh each to the family of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh for the critically injured, and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries. Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi and leaders of political parties including AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami have expressed grief and condoled the deaths.
Countering the Railways’ engaging in a blame game, DMK leader, Kanimozhi, MP, charged the Railways and the Union Government with being lackadaisical in ensuring ‘kavach’ accident prevention system in all routes. “Out of the 68,584 km railway line, only 1,548 have ‘kavach’ installed. Even after so many accidents, the Union Government has no qualms,” she posted on ‘X’.
Kavach, named after the Hindi word for shield, is a state-of-the-art Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system and is designed to provide an unyielding layer of protection, ensuring the highest safety standards for train operations.