What stops Kavach? Why no time to focus on common trains meant for common people?

By Atanu Roy

A goods train rammed into Kanchenjunga Express on 17th June morning in North Bengal. This could have been averted if the time tested anti-collision system (Kavach) was in place.

Field trial was initiated for Kavach in 2016, and till date has been installed only in less than 1,500 km of tracks out of total 70,000 km covered by Indian Railways across the country. A big gap indeed.

It's not the first incident, its happening repeatedly causing death, injury of hapless people. The credibility of the Indian Railway system is under lens.

Now, the needle of suspicion is pointed towards the ‘human error’ by the goods train hapless engine driver who died eventually. He is dead, so Railway Board chief put the blame on him before any formal investigation started .

The whole idea of Kavach is to initiate stoppage of trains in close proximity over the same track. It's the final step, after manual control fails for human error. So, the root cause is governments dilly dallying with the priorities at the cost of innocent lives.

What stops Kavach? As per railway officials, its the lack of money and resources. Railways are now overwhelmed in introducing ‘elite’ trains like Vande Bharat, and there is no time to focus on common trains meant for common people.

This is the trend for all sphere of Indian lives: the fate of NEET students aspiring for medical course, the migrant workers thrown out from their humble shelters during Covid lockdown, with no prior notice, our money swindled out of country; many such instances galore, with common people getting hit.

How long this suffering will continue? Till next elections? Do we have to wait for long five years.

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