Odisha Train Crash: PIL In SC Seeks Probe By Expert Panel

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a high-level probe by an expert panel headed by a retired Supreme Court, into the three train-collision which has reportedly claimed the lives of nearly 300 people.

The PIL also seeks directions for the implementation of the KAVACH Protection System in Indian Railways with immediate effect to ensure public safety.

The petition filed by a lawyer named Vishal Tiwari seeks guidelines and directions for the implementation of the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System called KAVACH Protection System in Indian Railways with immediate effect to ensure public safety.

The petition also sought a probe into the Balasore train accident by an expert panel.

This comes on a day Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw claimed that the cause of India's devastating train accident, which killed at least 288 people, has been identified.

The change that was made to electronic interlocking which led to the accident has been identified, Vaishnaw said while denying that the incident had anything to do with the anti-collision system Kavach.

"The root cause of the horrifying incident has been identified... I do not want to go into details. Let the report come out. I will just say that the root cause and the people responsible have been identified," the railway minister said.

He also said the kin of around 300 accident victims have been provided compensation. "We met the patients and doctors at Soro Hospital. Special trains are being run from Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ranchi, Kolkata and other places so that patients can reach homes after treatment."

Vaishnaw said restoration work was being carried out on a war footing and tracks have already been laid on one of the main lines.

"We have mobilised all resources. I also want to say that Kavach has nothing to do with the accident. This accident occurred due to changes to the electronic interlocking system. The remarks of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not true," Vaishnaw said.

At least 275 people have been killed and 1,000 are injured in a crash involving three trains in India's eastern Odisha state.