The railways and Andhra Pradesh agencies are caught in a blame-game in their search for reasons that led to the worst train accident in the state's history killing 111 people and injuring many more.
Senior railway officials Monday faulted the state irrigation and revenue departments for failing to forewarn them about overflowing tanks in the region and the possible danger to the railway bridge due to breaches.
"It is a normal practice for the concerned irrigation officials to inform the railways about the water flows and the likelihood of breaches to the tracks. It did not happen in this case," Principal Chief Engineer of South Central Railway R K Goel said.
Officials at South Central Railway headquarters in Hyderabad contend that the timely warning by the state agencies could have helped avert the tragedy.
The state officials, however, refused to take the onus for the mishap and pointed out that all necessary information about the flood situation was provided by the government.
Questions are also being raised over the possible failure of the gangman in alerting the driver of the ill-fated Repalle-Secunderabad Delta Fast Passenger on the flooding of the tracks.
"We are investigating whether the gangman on duty did his job properly," Additional Director General of Police (Railways) A Siva Shankar said.
A senior official of the Revenue Department said the government had scrupulously followed all the norms and kept the railways posted of the information pertaining to the rain situation.
Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party supremo and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the mishap could have been averted had there been proper coordination between government agencies and railway authorities.
"As the region has been experiencing heavy rains for the last one week, irrigation officials should have alerted the railways about the possible flooding of tracks in vulnerable areas. It seems they have failed in their job," Naidu had said Sunday.
Senior Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader and Union Minister of State for Rural Development A Narendra had also accused the Congress government in the state of being responsible for the mishap.
"This part of the Telangana region is known for its chain of tanks linked to each other. The officials should have anticipated the trouble particularly when there has been heavy rainfall," Narendra said.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union Minister B Dattatreya demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and a judicial probe into allegations of lapse on the part of state government.
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