West Bengal, railways to meet on rail track security June 11
By IANSMonday, June 7, 2010
KOLKATA - The West Bengal government and the railways will hold a high level meeting on railway track security June 11 but the state police chief says it is impossible to man hundreds of kilometers of tracks.
“There are hundreds of kilometers of railway track. It is not possible to guard the entire track,” state Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh told reporters here.
State Home Secretary Samar Ghosh said the general managers of the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway and senior police officers would attend the meeting to be presided over by state Chief Secretary Ardhendu Sen.
The meeting at the state secretariat Writers’ Building will discuss security issues about running of trains at night in the Maoist insurgency-hit areas of the state.
Bhupinder Singh said apart from West Bengal, the governments and police of neighbouring leftwing ultra-affected states like Orissa and Jharkhand also need to be involved in ensuring foolproof security.
The meeting comes in the wake of the May 28 Gyaneshwari Express derailment near Jhagram in West Midnapore district in which 148 people were killed after saboteurs cut open pandrol clips (used to fix the rail to the sleeper) for over 50 metres.
The state police have blamed the Maoist rebels for the sabotage.
