Several months after the death of 293 people in a tragic train accident in Odisha, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre about the safety parameters in the Railways, including the automatic train protection system 'Kavach'. The issue has surfaced in connection with the deadly accident involving three trains - Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, and a goods train.
What did the SC say?
It has been reported that a bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan asked the Attorney General to provide the court all the details of the protective measures which are implemented or proposed to be implemented by the Railways in the next hearing after four weeks.
"Is there any kind of exercise undertaken that how much financial implication will be there on the 'Kavach' system in case it is introduced on a pan-India basis," the bench asked.
The apex court's directive came as it was hearing a petition that seeks specific directions to the government for the enforcement of the 'Railway Accidents Protective' measures to avoid accidents.
The petition has also sought the issuance of guidelines for the implementation of the 'kavach' system in Railways with immediate effect.
"The enforcement of safety mechanisms of train protection system is still not done at ground level throughout the country as it has been clearly proven that Kavach, which is an Automatic Train Protection System, was still not applied on this route...", the plea said.
