New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation MP Sudama Prasad, who is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, has urged the panel chairperson to investigate the recent stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station.

At a meeting of the panel on Tuesday, Prasad handed over a letter to chairperson CM Ramesh, urging the Railway Standing Committee to conduct an impartial investigation into the accident and make the report public. He also sought a discussion on the incident.

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However, the stampede issue was not discussed as it was not on the agenda of the meeting called to examine the Railway Ministry's demands for grants.

At least 18 people were killed in the stampede on the intervening night of February 15-16. More than a dozen people were also injured in the incident at the railway station which witnessed a surge of passengers waiting to board trains for Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh.

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In his letter, Prasad said the incident has raised several critical questions about the measures taken to ensure the safety of passengers.

He said the Standing Committee should investigate the matter thoroughly and address "pressing issues" like the government promptly paying ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of the deceased in cash on the intervening night of the accident.

"Families who lost their loved ones were forcefully sent away from the hospital through ambulances. Similarly, the injured too were paid in cash and rushed away from the hospital. What is surprising is under what law the compensation was paid in cash immediately? What were the railways trying to protect?" Prasad said.

"Despite immense evidence and eyewitness accounts, railway officials denied the occurrence of a stampede, terming it a 'stampede-like' situation. Such an attempt to refute the truth raises serious concerns about accountability within the railway administration. Why was the reality of the situation not accepted, and what led to denial by officials?" he questioned.

The CPI(ML) MP from Arrah, Bihar, claimed that proper crowd-management measures were not in place at the time of the incident.

He said the coolies were among the first responders, which indicates that no Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel or designated railway officials were present at the scene.

"Why were no pre-emptive actions taken when the crowd started increasing? Is there no protocol to observe crowd gathering on platforms and take adequate measures to declare a platform change?" he said.

He also said crowd-management mechanisms were absent at the New Delhi Railway Station and several reports have highlighted that passengers continue to face difficulties in accessing railway travel.

As reports indicate severe lapses in crowd management during the Maha Kumbh, it raises the question if any prior crowd-management measures were implemented for mega religious gathering, he said.

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