Last July, data made available by the Home Ministry revealed that as many as 624 people died in India due to rain-related incidents. Do we ever learn our lessons, questioned a non-resident Indian on platform X, rueing the loss of life that could have been prevented. No sooner had the question been put that a coordinated campaign of sabotage took over.
Every single time, there’s a loss of life, a blame game among political parties takes over and takes away from the gravity of the issue. If deaths due to preventable tragedies and man-made disasters are any barometer to go by, then human life has very little value in India.
In the past couple of months, incidents like stampedes, bridge collapses, monsoon-related deaths, and fatalities due to train accidents have hit the national headlines, with alarming frequency.
Bridge/terminal/infrastructure collapse
Bihar, unfortunately, is no stranger to bridge collapse incidents. This year in March, the country’s longest under-construction bridge, spanning 10 km over the Kosi river collapsed, resulting in 1 death and 9 injuries.
However, nothing compared to the number of bridge collapses the state witnessed starting in June. By the first week of July, 13th such mishap had been reported within three weeks.
While the Bihar government suspended at least 15 engineers in connection with the series of collapses, it was too little, too late.
The government’s apathy had made it to international media, reflecting the poor state of infrastructure management and development. In its defence, the authorities cited heavy rain as a contributor to the series of bridge failures, but clearly it underscored the deep-rooted corruption plaguing the system.
In the fourth week of June, continued heavy rainfall brought down itself a roof at Delhi Airport in India’s Capital, killing one person and injuring eight others.
The viral videos online showed how the huge pillars supporting the roof came crashing down into cars parked along the airport’s Terminal 1. One particularly disturbing picture of a man smashed down completely, along with the roof of the car became the haunting poster image of the state of infrastructure in the nation. Almost a week ago, yet another casualty was reported as a newly constructed bridge collapsed in Manipur.
Fire related tragedies
There’s no need to look very far behind in time for fire incidents caused by lax safety standards in India. In the last week of May, the nation was jolted with yet another challenge of fire safety regulation as two separate fire incidents were reported only 24 hours apart.
The first was the horror of families having to go through a fire at a gaming zone in Gujarat’s Rajkot resulting in the loss of 27 lives. Later investigation revealed that inflammable items like tyres and foam sheets were strewn across the floor. In the second tragic incident, at least six newborns were charred to death due to a fire in a Delhi hospital.
Poor crowd management
On July 2, the nation witnessed yet another unfortunate incident that was a result of poor crowd management. Though the reported figures differ, Hathras stampede resulted in 116 fatalities. The crowd crush happened during a religious gathering when a large crowd of as many as 250,000 devotees of the religious leader Suraj Pal, also known as Bhole Baba, gathered for a Satsang in Hathras.
It was later found that many people had gathered in a makeshift tent that was pitched atop a muddy terrain. As the investigation into the incident is ongoing, political parties have turned the episode into an opportunity for blame games and conspiracy theories.
Railway accidents
On June 17, yet another tragedy jolted the families of those affected. Nine people, including seven passengers, and two railways staffers died and 41 others were injured when a goods train collided with the stationary Kanchanjunga Express derailing its three rear coaches. What makes things unfortunate is that this is a tragedy that could have been avoided.
What makes things even more unfortunate is that it not only highlights India’s creaking train network but the fact that no one can say with absolute confidence that this is the last or even the rarest rail incident in the nation.
Follow us
