New Delhi Railway Stampede: Fair Enquiry Underway, Measures Announced - Vaishnaw

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said a fair enquiry is being conducted regarding the stampede which took place at New Delhi railway station last month and said the government is implementing a slew of measures to avoid such incidents in the future.

Rejecting the allegations that the CCTV cameras were switched off at the New Delhi Railway station to hide the details of the incident, Vaishnaw said a detailed inquiry is being held regarding the accident in which 18 people lost their lives.

"I outrightly reject that CCTV cameras were switched off. I have seen the CCTV footage myself," Vaishnaw stated in the Rajya Sabha while replying to a discussion on the passage of the Railways (Amendment) Bill 2024.

RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha had raised the matter during the discussion, stating that railway authorities had switched off CCTV cameras to hide the details of the incident.

With Vaishnaw countering, several opposition members walked out of the House.

Jha was joined by Congress member Vivek Tankha, TMC members Derek O'Brian, Sagarika Ghosh, Sushmita Dev, CPI (M) members John Brittas and V Sivadasan, CPI member Santhosh P, BJD member Sasmit Patra.

Later Brittas, Sivadasan and Santhosh returned to move amendments to the bill which was negated by voice votes.

Vaishnaw noted that it is very sad if even one life is lost due to an accident and the issue should not be politicised.

It is important that we learn from such incidents that it doesn't happen again, Vaishnaw stated.

"After this accident, it has been decided that in 60 stations there will be complete access control. In these stations a permanent holding area will be created so that the passenger surge could be controlled," the minister said.

In these stations only travellers with a confirmed journey ticket would be allowed to enter the station premises, he added.

Vaishnaw noted that a pilot project in this regard has been launched at five stations -- Anand Vihar, New Delhi, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Ghaziabad.

He noted that the government has also decided to come up with foot-over bridges (FOBs) that are 12 meter wide in order to avoid stampede-like situations.
He noted that such FOBs were set up for the recently concluded MahaKumbh at Prayagraj and they helped in smooth passage of the pilgrims.

Vaishnaw stated that war rooms would also be created in busy stations with new-generation communication technologies.

He also informed that now Railways will only issue tickets at busy stations against the available seats on the trains and sought the cooperation of the opposition members in this regard.

Vaishnaw also informed the Upper House that a pool of 80 trains would be created for the 60 stations to take care of additional passengers.