Kolkata Metro boss transferred for derailment

KOLKATA - The Kolkata Metro Railway general manager Amar Nath was Friday transferred, two days after two coaches of the country’s first underground railway system derailed inside a tunnel.

Amar Nath swapped places with P.B. Murthy, who was general manager of the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW). The government order reached the Metro Bhavan Friday evening.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, claimed Amar Nath was removed as he had himself sought to be relieved from the post on health grounds. “He is suffering from spondylitis. He is not well and requires some rest. He asked us to relieve him even before the accident. We have relieved him temporarily,” Banerjee said.

Amar Nath held a media meet less than two hours before the transfer order, where he took credit for fewer number of accidents during his tenure. He even announced awards for Metro staff who had rescued the stranded passengers and declared a slew of projects in the pipeline, which, he claimed, would “further improve” the Metro services.

After his transfer, Amar Nath met Banerjee. The two were huddled for about 20 minutes.

Senior Metro officials seemed rattled, fearing the axe could also fall on them.

But some of them said through the order, Banerjee has sent a strong message to senior railway officials that they would be held accountable for such incidents that involved the lives of people. However, former railway standing committee chairman and Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) leader Basudeb Achariya said Amar Nath was being made a scapegoat.

“Every decision is taken by Mamata Banerjee. If responsibility (for the accident) has to be fixed, she has to take the blame,” Acharya added.