VIPs rush to Bahanaga after train tragedy

BHUBANESWAR: Politicians started thronging Bahanaga, a small town in Balasore district, around 180 km from here, as soon as news spread about the three-train pile-up on Friday evening.
Balasore BJP MP Pratap Sarangi was among the first to reach the accident spot at around 7.30 pm.
"I was at a village called Jamuna about 30 km away from the site where we had a meeting to conduct a bicycle rally on Saturday. We immediately rushed to the spot where we saw thousands of locals rescuing those trapped under the derailed bogies. In the dark it was difficult to assess the severity of the accident," said Sarangi.
BJD secretary and Jajpur MLA Pranab Prakash Das was the next prominent leader to reach the accident site and coordinated the rescue operations by locals.
He was soon followed by revenue and disaster management minister Pramila Mallik who reached to take stock of the rescue operations as NDRF, ODRAF, fire services personnel and police teams started rescuing people.
Union minister of state for tribal affairs Bisweswar Tudu also reached the spot at night. Balasore MLA Swarup Das visited the site soon after the accident and later coordinated with hospitals in Balasore and ensured that all injured passengers get medical aid or first-aid treatment. "We reached there at the earliest and made arrangements for shifting of injured persons and keeping them in hospitals in Balasore, Soro and other places. Everyone has contributed in the rescue operations on humanitarian ground and worked hard to save lives," said Das.
The rescue operations continued throughout the night. In the morning, choppers started flying over the site. As the day wore on, the number of politicians and VIPs visiting the site started rising. State BJP president Manmohan Samal reached the spot early in the morning followed by railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik along with his team reached the spot at around 8.30 am and took stock of the situation accompanied by Vaishnaw.
The CM described the incident as extremely tragic and thanked the local people who worked overnight to rescue passengers from the wreckage.
Since both the trains involved in the accident were originating and terminating in Howrah, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also made a quick visit to the spot at around 1 pm. Her government has also arranged medical teams for the treatment and return of passengers to their home state.
The series of visits by VIPs to the accident spot did not end as Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the spot at 3.45 pm and reviewed the situation. Walking around the accident site, the PM tried to find out the reason of the accident and took stock of the rescue and treatment of survivors.
"The visit of politicians and VIPs to the spot causes more inconvenience as those who could be utilised for rescue operations get diverted to handling the arrangements. They only add to the woes of the victims, impairing and putting a stop to all rescue efforts during their brief visits. The choppers that landed in the temporary helipads could have been more appropriately used for ferrying the injured to nearby hospitals," said cultural researcher Anil Dhir.
Expressing concern over the diversion of police and security personnel for the visit of VIPs, Dhir said, "These visits seriously hamper the relief and rescue operations. These visits are an avoidable burden as the actual cost incurred on them can be better used for railway safety."