Patna,(BiharTimes): The Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday blamed the Bihar Government for not informing the Railways about such a big congregation near Dhamara Ghat station on Monday so that it could have taken some measures in advance and prevented the loss of 28 precious lives.
Besides, he questioned as to why no rural road was built in the entire vicinity of the place when the Centre has been liberally granting hundreds of crores every year on Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to Bihar government.
Talking to reporters in Patna on Tuesday he said actually 28 persons died in the accident, and not 37 put by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. He said nine others were injured.
The minister of state said probably Nitish Kumar mixed up the figures of death and injured to say that 37 persons died in the mishap.
Chaudhury had visited the accident site after midnight last night and also met the injured in the hospital at Khagaria on Tuesday morning before returning to Delhi via Patna.
Chaudhary said that there was no proper coordination by the local administration with the Railways for making the necessary arrangement in view of the fair at the temple on the last Monday of Shrawan.
Meanwhile, chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also a former railway minister, had on Monday itself rejected any lapse on the part of the state administration. He said he had talked to Railways Minister Mallikarjun Kharge immediately after the accident and was in regular touch with the General Manager of East Central Railway (ECR), Madhuresh Kumar.
Nitish said it was a subject to investigation whether speed restriction was ordered considering that the day was the last Monday of Shravan and a large crowd of pilgrims was expected.
He also said that soon a state highway would connect Dhamara Ghat.
It needs to be recalled that the state government could not send its administrative officials and police force immediately after the tragedy because the nearest road was about six km from the spot.
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