Delhi railway station stampede: As crowd swelled, top railway officials were busy in meeting discussing safety
The Hindu
Top railway officials discuss safety in meeting as stampede occurs at New Delhi station, highlighting lack of preparedness.
As the crowd started swelling at the New Delhi railway station on Saturday (February 16, 2025) - eventually leading to a stampede - top railway officials were busy in a meeting discussing safety aspects, sources said.
On Saturday (February 16, 2025), the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Railway Board convened a meeting of all General Managers, Divisional Railway Managers and other senior officials through video conferencing to discuss safety-related issues. The meeting originally planned for February 8 was rescheduled. It commenced at 10.30 a.m. and went on for about five hours, railway sources said.
Also Read: New Delhi Railway Station stampede highlights
“We had to prepare data and action-taken reports for the meeting well in advance. After the hectic review meeting which was held on a weekend, most of the officers took a break from routine work. By the time the SOS was sounded in New Delhi, an unmanageable crowd was already in… It was too late to close the entry points,” a senior railway officer involved in operation of special trains for the Kumbh Mela in Northern Railway said.
Even after the meeting was over by around 3 p.m., the instructions given and decisions made by the top railway management in the safety review meeting had to be communicated down the line and officers continued to be busy till late on Saturday, February 16, 2025.
The agenda of the meeting was circulated a few days in advance and the GM and DRMs were busy preparing for the review by engaging their zonal- and divisional-level officers.
“The Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police should have issued an alert on seeing the unusual crowd congregating on two platforms. Instead of making decisions after a crisis, steps should have been taken to avert the situation. But all decision-making senior officials were busy in the meeting through the day,” the officer said.
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