Bhopal. There are no adequate fire safety arrangements to prevent incidents of fire in trains. Even fire safety cylinders are not available in many trains passing through various stations of the division including Bhopal and Rani Kamlapati. At the same time, there is no information about the expiry date on the trains which have the equipment. The staff running the trains do not even know whether the trains in which the cylinders are kept contain fire fighting gas or whether they are empty. Such questions have started being raised after the incident of arson in Patalcourt Express at Bhandai near Agra. After this incident, on Thursday, when the News2News.in team saw the fire safety arrangements in the coaches of trains passing through various stations of the division including Bhopal, the indifference of the officers was seen.
There has been an increase in cases of arson in the last 10 years in all zones and divisions across the country, including Bhopal Railway Division. Even after this, necessary steps are not being taken by the concerned division or zone including the Railway Board. It is noteworthy that an incident of arson in a coach of Vande Bharat Express in Bhopal Railway Division has come to light last month. Apart from this, such cases have been reported twice this year between Agra and Jhansi. Due to this, a major accident can happen at any time.
Train: Bhopal Jodhpur Express
Time: 4:00 pm
Location: Platform No. 6 of Bhopal Station
There was no fire safety equipment in the gallery outside the general and sleeper coaches of the train. The team checked two AC coaches, but fire safety cylinder was not found in any of them. Information about fire safety equipment was also sought from the TC and passengers of the train, but no one could tell whether they had seen a cylinder installed or kept anywhere in the coach.
Train: Bhopal Express (Shan-e Bhopal)
Time: around 10:30 pm
Location: Ranikamalapati Station Platform No. 01
Two fire safety cylinders were kept in AC Coach-2, but there was no expiry date on the cylinders. The cylinders looked quite old. Due to lack of expiry date, it cannot be said whether fire extinguishing gas was available in these cylinders or not. When asked from the coach staff, there was no information whether the cylinder was available in the coach or not. A cylinder was found kept in the second AC coach.
CPRO of West Central Railway Harshit Srivastava says what is the condition of fire safety cylinders in trains. I will be able to tell you about this by taking information from the concerned department tomorrow.
