Hyderabad, July 30 (IANS) Congress MP K. Chiranjeevi and Telugu Desam party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu blamed the negligence by the railways for Monday’s train disaster at Nellore.
Both the leaders visited Nellore railway station and inspected the compartment, which was gutted in the fire killing 35 people.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy too appeared unhappy with the railways and pointed out that this is second such incident in the state in less than three months.
“Railways have to think seriously (about passenger safety) and do safety audit of all trains,” he told reporters after going around the charred compartment.
“People in large numbers travel by trains. They have confidence in railways,” the chief minister said while calling for a comprehensive probe by the railways.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi said railways were not paying attention to passengers’ safety. He stressed the need for speeding up the modernisation of railways.
“Indian railways is the largest organization in the world but we still follow the old safety and security systems introduced during the British time,” said the Rajya Sabha member.
Former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that railways had no seriousness towards the passenger safety. “The negligence by the centre and railways is to be blamed for this tragedy. At least now they should wake up from deep slumber,” he said
The TDP chief said two lakh posts in railways were vacant and many of them relate to safety. He criticized the railways for not sending forensic experts to collect the evidence despite the doubts that the tragedy could be a result of sabotage.
