Are the trains adequately equipped with fire safety equipments?
22 Jan, 2014An application was filed with the railways under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details of first aid kits and fire extinguishers available on the trains.
The reply to the application shows that only 162 trains of highest class like Rajdhani and Shatabdi have been provided with first aid kits since 2001. Among railway stations, only 155 class-A railway stations have been given the first aid kits. The reply also showed that till 2011 none of the 11,824 passenger trains running across the country had fire extinguishers.
Citing the RTI reply and stating that even the first aid kit made available in the trains are too basic looking at the gravity of injuries caused by fire accidents in the trains, the applicant filed a Public Interest Litigation in Madras High Court seeking speedy deployment of first aid and fire equipments on the trains. The bench comprising Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan court has now issued notices to the railways regarding the issue.