The South Central Railways has attracted the wrath of the Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhara Rao for the early morning rail-bus accident near a railway level crossing on the outskirts of Hyderabad, in which 20 students are feared dead and 15 seriously injured.
While announcing Rs 5 lakh exgratia to the families of the dead, the CM conveyed his anger and displeasure over the incident to the General Manager of South Central Railway, PK Srivastava.
In response, Srivastava assured the CM that gates will be arranged at all the level crossing in the State in a week’s time, according to an official statement from the Chief Minister’s Office. There are around a 1,000 level crossings of which 50 per cent are manned and have gates, according to available information.
The CM, who has already ordered an inquiry into the ghastly accident visited the Yashoda Hospital in Secunderabad, where the injured are being treated. The Government would take care of all the medical expenditure and pay Rs 20,000 to the injured.
In the accident, the bus driver and cleaner also died. Ironically, the parent of one of the dead suffered a heart attack and succumbed. The bus was carrying 38 students from areas close to a school in Toopran, around 70 km from Hyderabad when it was hit and dragged a couple of furlongs near a level crossing at Masaipet of Veldurthi Mandal.
While a couple of ministers, Harish Rao, Nayani Narasimha Reddy and political leaders like YS Jaganmohan Reddy (YSR Congress) and Kishen Reddy of the BJP rushed to the spot, relief vans of the SCR and ambulances also were pressed into service to provide first aid and reach the injured to the hospitals. The CM was reviewing the situation with the Chief Secretary and Director-General of Police.