Odisha Chief Secretary PK Jena said his government has no intention to hide the deaths in the Balasore train crash and the entire rescue operation was being conducted in full public view. Reacting to allegations that the death toll figure was being manipulated, he said Odisha believes in transparency.
Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the train accident at Odisha’s Balasore, which has left 275 people dead and over 1,000 injured, was caused due to a ‘change in the electronic interlocking system’. Since the tragedy took place on Friday night, many are also wondering if Kavach, the Railway’s automatic protection system could have averted such a disaster. But what are these systems? How do they impact the functioning of trains?