04062023-TTB-01.qxd 6/3/2023 INDIA DEFEAT BRITAIN IN HOCKEY THRILLER SPORT /thetribunechd 11:53 PM Page 1 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 153 | 20 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HARYANA sunday | 4 june 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com ONE OF INDIA’S DEADLIEST RAIL CRASHES June 6, 1981: India’s worst-ever rail mishap occurs as train plunges into Bagmati river while crossing a bridge in Bihar 750 dead Aug 20, 1995:Purushottam express collides with stationary Kalindi express near Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh 305 dead Aug 2, 1999: Brahmaputra Mail hits stationary Avadh Assam express at Gaisal (West Bengal) in Katihar division 285 dead Nov 26, 1998: Jammu Tawi-Sealdah express collides with three derailed coaches of Frontier Golden Temple Mail in Punjab’s Khanna 212 dead Nov 20, 2016: Indore-Rajendra Nagar Express derails at Pukhrayan in UP 152 dead May 28, 2010: Mumbai-bound Jnaneswari express derails near Jhargram in West Bengal and was then hit by a goods train 148 dead Sept: 9, 2002: Howrah Rajdhani derails over a bridge on Dhave river in Rafiganj, Bihar 140 dead Dec 23, 1964: Pamban-Dhanuskodi train washed away by cyclone in Rameswaram 126 dead Probe hints at signal goof-up, train crash toll mounts to 288 OVER 1,100 INJURED, 56 OF THEM GRIEVOUSLY SIGNAL GIVEN, THEN RECALLED: PRELIM PROBE COROMANDEL EXPRESS ENTERED WRONG LANE Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 3 As the death toll in the rail accident in Odisha’s Balasore continued its frightening upward climb with 288 persons already declared dead and 1,175 injured, 56 of them grievously, admitted to various hospitals, investigators were on Saturday looking into any human error, signal failure and other possible causes behind the three-train crash. Preliminary investigations revealed that a signal was given to Chennai-bound Coromandel express (coming from Shalimar station on the outskirts of Kolkata) to enter the main line, but it was tak- 2,000 PASSENGERS WERE ABOARD THE TRAINS THAT CRASHED 17COACHES DERAILED, BADLY DAMAGED en off and the train entered the loop line where it crashed into a stationary goods train. The Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express, which was coming at high speed, crashed into the coaches of Coromandel express that had scattered on the adjacent track. It was the worst rail accident in India in nearly three decades. The crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel express, which were carrying around 2,000 passengers, and a goods train occurred at 6.55 pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station continued on page 12 Rescue work underway at the accident site in Odisha’s Balasore, where three trains were involved in a crash. PTI IN MINUTES, COACHES WERE MANGLED STEEL NONE WILL BE SPARED: PM MODI AT MISHAP SITE ■ JUNE 2, 6.50 pm: Coromandel PM Narendra Modi (left), accompanied by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and HRD Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, visited the accident site to take stock of the situation. The PM later met the injured at a hospital in Cuttack. “No one will be spared and strong action will be taken against those found guilty. Instructions have been given to ensure a proper and speedy probe,” the PM said. express passengers hear a loud bang as it rams into a goods train ■ 6.55 pm: The Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express crashes into derailed Coromandel coaches ■ 7.10 pm: Locals arrive for rescue ■ 7.30 pm: Police and emergency services turn up at the site ■ JUNE 3, 12 noon: After 17 hours, rescue operation gets over ROUTE DIDN’T HAVE ‘KAVACH’ DEFENCE SYSTEM ■ The train accident has brought into focus the automatic train protection system, “Kavach”, which wasn’t available on the Odisha route ■ The system alerts when a loco pilot jumps a signal (signal passed at danger — SPAD), which is among leading causes of collisions PAGE 12 MORE REPORTS PAGE 12 REPORTS ON RAILWAY SAFETY BEING IGNORED: PARL PANEL WHY DIDN’T SAFETY SYSTEM WORK, ASKS MAMATA ‘Loud thud... bodies lay strewn all around’ An injured passenger at Howrah. Kolkata, June 3 Returning home to their families after several months of working in South India, passengers aboard the 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express suddenly heard a loud thud, following which they fell off their berths and lights went off. They were five hours away from their destination in Howrah when the train they were travelling got involved in a triple train accident at the Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha’s Balasore district. The train, which was running a little over three hours late from its schedule, was moving towards its next stop Balasore, some 20 km away, when the accident took place continued on page 12 RAM JANMABHOOMI-BABRI MASJID CASE IN BRIEF Violence flares up in Manipur, 15 injured in attack NEW DELHI: Fifteen persons were hurt in fresh violence in Manipur on Friday night after suspected Kuki militants, armed with weapons and bombs, attacked two villages in Imphal West district. BACK PAGE HP issues notification on attics, basement parking SHIMLA: The HP Government on Saturday issued a notification for making changes to rules under the Town and Country Planning Act for making attics habitable & allowing parking in basements. INSIDE Shahkot woman arrested for human trafficking JALANDHAR: The police on Saturday arrested a Shahkot woman agent for trafficking a woman to Dubai. The victim, a mother of four, was sent to Oman after paying ~70,000 to the agent. INSIDE Was under pressure not to deliver verdict: Ex-judge Meerut (UP), June 3 Justice Sudhir Agarwal (retd), who was part of an Allahabad High Court Bench which delivered a key judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit in 2010, said he was under “pressure” not to give the ruling and added that had they not done so, there would not have been any verdict in the matter for the next 200 years. Justice Agarwal retired from continued on page 11 Haryana schools lack infra, but only 20% funds used Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 3 Despite no paucity of funds, the Haryana School Education Department has been lagging as far as spending on infrastructure development in schools is concerned. The Project Approval Board, Samagra Shiksha, has pointed out that while Rs ~88 cr out of~427 cr spent 427.53 crore was allocated to the department for school infrastructure development in 2022-23, only Rs 88.84 crore (20 per cent) was utilised. Another Rs 129.73 crore was allocated for IT and digital initiatives, but the board could spend only Rs 49.27 crore (38 per cent). Of the total allocation of Rs 1,618.58 crore in 2022-23, Rs 1,014.16 crore was spent. This is not the first time that the allocated budgets remained unutilised. In Today’s issue is of 20 pages, including six-page additional pullout (Spectrum). US DEFENCE SECY AUSTIN ARRIVES TODAY BACK PAGE 2021-22, against the allocation of Rs 297.45 crore for infrastructure, just Rs 24.09 crore was spent. The facts came to light in the department’s presentation during a meeting of the PAB to consider the annual work plan and budget where Rs 2,013.46 crore was approved continued on page 11 Air surcharge: Leh and beyond Rs 2.00