Supreme Court applauds Railways for implementation of Kavach system in trains, disposes of plea seeking anti-collision measures

The Supreme Court on Monday disposed of a plea seeking improvement in anti-collision measures in railways. The apex court also appreciated the steps taken by Indian Railways for the implementation of Kavach, anti-collision system.

The plea was lodged by Advocate Vishal Tiwari following the Balasore train accident of last year. The bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice KV Viswanathan said that the Centre and the Indian Railways have introduced multiple steps towards bettering the anti-collision system in the trains like the installation of a safety system, improving the quality of tracks, training and sensitization of staff, reforms in maintenance practices, and implementation of Kavach System.

The court hailed that they appreciate the steps taken by the Indian Railways. It added that they are satisfied that the initiation of these proceedings in the Public Interest have been adequately addressed by the Union of India and Indian Railways.

In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court requested the Attorney General for India to apprise it about the steps taken so far by the government in this regard. After the time was sought by the counsel for the Centre, the court granted four weeks to submit the status report.

On Monday, at the outset while referring to the status report submitted by the Centre, the court said that there appears to be a lot of work towards the implementation of the security system in the train. Disposing of the petition, the top court observed that they have no reason to doubt that the Centre and the Indian Railways will continue with the projects and continue to take necessary steps for the introduction of the kavach system in railways.

The plea demanded immediate guidelines for implementing the Kavach system within Indian Railways. The petitioner attributed the non-implementation of the Kavach system to a significant loss of lives and public property, holding the authorities accountable for negligence and a breach of duty.

In an unfortunate incident on June 2, 2023, three trains collided in Balasore district of Odisha, killing more than 296 people and injuring 1200 others. This is India’s deadliest railway crash since the Firozabad rail collision in 1995.