Hirakhand Express tragedy: Parties get into blame game

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Bhubaneswar: War of words today ensued between leaders of BJD, Congress and BJP following Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express tragedy which claimed 39 lives late last night near Kuneru in Andhra Pradesh.

BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said, “If people of the country lose lives, there is no point of talking on modernization in railways. We appeal the Central government as well as the Railway Minister to give safety of rail passengers at the utmost priority.”

Alleging lackadaisical attitude of the Railway Ministry towards past train mishaps, Prasad Harichandan, PCC chief, said, “These kind of tragedies have been occurring  frequently. But the Railway authorities seem not to give that much importance which it should have given otherwise.”

Besides, the PCC chief demanded for an increase in the ex-gratia amount announced by the Central government.

Also read: 39 killed as 10 coaches of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express derail

Refuting the charges, BJP national secretary said, “To make a 100-year-old system correct, the Centre is talking of modernisation plan with a focus on safety.”

Without mentioning about BJD, Pujari stated, “In each and every instance, parties should stop finding faults of the Centre. The State’s people will be actually benefitted when the politicians would think about Odisha’s development.”