Daily Times

There is no denying the fact that the current infrastructure of railways is of the British era and has now become obsolete. No improvement as per need has been seen so far. Hence, for decades, multiple accidents have been witnessed. Historical data showed that most of the reported incidents were caused by derailment and collision at unmanned railway crossings. However, the recent most fire incident was unprecedented and resulted in over 70 causalities, due to massive fire. This was heart-wrenching and perturbing; putting the whole nation in a state of deep sorrow.

Now the question emanated here is; who is to blame? Concerned authorities, government or public? In my opinion, this tragedy could have been avoided if the mechanism of monitoring and checking of passenger baggage was in-place. Having said that, the public, too, is reluctant and ignorant. They prefer their ease over safety. It’s the central point where the problem lies. Many domestic fire incidents are reported at regular intervals due to cylinder explosion at homes, particularly in kitchens. Remember, fire is very unkind! Minor negligence may result in serious repercussions. Through this reckless approach, one puts other’s life in jeopardy too. That’s what happened in train–two cookers blew up with oil in them, which added fuel to the fire simultaneously. The ruthless fire further covered the other three train carriages within no time. To save lives, many jumped out of the fast-moving train, and couldn’t survive. This could have been avoided if the train had managed to stop in time. It’s pertinent to mention here that the fire needs three elements to ignite: fuel, heat and oxidizing agent, which is usually oxygen. The combination of these three results in a fire. In case of a train incident, all three agents were well in place, which surrounded other carriages of the train with smoke and flames flowing out through the windows. This painful incident is the negligence of both concerned authorities and the general public as well.

For regular monitoring, safety and the environmental officer must be present all the time to ensure safety in all aspects

Now, the most important question is that what steps should be taken to address these tragic incidents shortly instead of engaging in mud-slinging and the numbers game, as most media houses and opposition are doing. It’s a lesson learnt for all of us to cope with ignorable issues. Therefore, there is a dire need for the whole nation to pay heed to this, and come up with sustainable solutions. A detailed risk assessment is highly recommended. Historical data is helpful to identify major causes of rail accidents such as lack of track maintenance, over-speeding, signal issues and older engines. It’s a need of the hour to upgrade railway infrastructure as the millennium-old system is outdated and pose serious threats to the passengers and nearby community. Hence, the CPEC is a great tool to upgrade existing infrastructure followed by safety measures. If India could develop Asia’s best railway system, Singapore could become the world country in the third world; Turkey could upgrade its infrastructure to compete with the modern world and Germany could become fourth-biggest economy and develop state-of-the-art railway system, despite starting its journey in the 1950s, why not Pakistan? What are the barricades around? Who stops development works? The same goes for China, where Hyperloop trains are the fastest and safest mode of transportation. All stakeholders must join hands to dig out suitable measures on an emergency basis.

Moreover, when it comes to fire, one may witness serious implications, owing to carelessness. The most suitable solution is to eliminate the hazard or nip the evil of fire in the bud. Proper checking and monitoring mechanisms must be introduced to grapple the menace of fire. Secondly, there is always the likelihood of an incident, which can be alleviated through risk assessment. Each train carriage must have smoke detectors at suitable places, which detect smoke within no time to reflect it at control panels in the engine or monitoring stations. Fire extinguishers should be there with simple instructions, so the passengers can use them to tackle minor fires due to electrical appliances. Manual call points (MCPs) or fire alarms must be present in every carriage to take appropriate measures in the case of fires. Similarly, other options are available, such as FM-200 suppression system, a technology that reduces the temperature up to -25 degree Celsius by removing energy (heat) without reducing the oxygen level. These are all engineering controls. Administratively, we can restrict passengers and educate them to not take banned items like cylinders, cooking stoves and oil canisters. All violators must be brought to the book. For regular monitoring, safety and the environmental officer must be present all the time to ensure the safety in all aspects. This can only be ensured through regular monitoring of electrical appliances, kitchen and already installed equipment for fire. These measures would reap a positive outcome. Realistically, it’s not an overnight change but a gradual process. Yet, stringent measures and sincere approach are the need of the hour to harness long-term benefits in terms of revenue and passenger safety.

The writer is a young professional, working as a Health Safety & Environment Officer in Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH & RC)