The recent train accident at the Alapakkam railway crossing
in Tamil Nadu is a heart-rending reminder of how institutional failures and
human negligence can turn an ordinary day into an everlasting tragedy. The
victims — school-going children with their whole lives ahead of them — perished
in an incident that was entirely preventable. Among others, one aspired to be a
doctor, another a civil servant — dreams now cruelly extinguished due to
systemic lapses. Each child killed was a universe of potential. The pain of the
parents — who saw their children off to school expecting them to return — is
beyond quantification. For them, the memory of that morning will never fade,
and their grief will remain lifelong. When young lives are cut short due to
institutional failure, the loss is not only personal but a profound moral
failure of society.
This accident,
involving a school van and an oncoming train, was not an unforeseeable
catastrophe brought on by fate or misfortune. It was a tragedy foretold, shaped
by a chain of preventable errors and official indifference.
The Missing Safety Mechanism: Interlocking Failure
At the core of the tragedy is the absence of a vital safety
system — interlocking mechanisms. These ensure that a train cannot proceed
through a level crossing unless the gate has been properly shut and locked.
Their absence at the Alapakkam crossing directly contributed to the fatal
sequence of events. Compounding this infrastructural failure was the deliberate
falsification by a railway employee, who recorded that the gate had been closed
when it was not and misinformed the station master. This wasn’t a mere lapse —
it was criminal negligence, committed by someone entrusted with protecting
lives.
Vicarious Liability of the Railways & the Schools
share of blame
This is a textbook case of composite negligence in tort law,
where multiple parties contribute to a single harmful outcome. Each is liable
both jointly and severally.
The Indian Railways, a public authority and employer of the
negligent staff, must bear vicarious liability. Institutions are accountable
not only for what they do but for what they fail to prevent when due diligence
could have averted disaster. This tragedy is not just about one individual’s
misconduct but also about the absence of a robust supervisory mechanism that
could have caught or corrected such dereliction.
The school authorities also failed in their duty of care.
Reports confirm that the van was operating without a conductor, who could have
stepped out to check if the crossing was safe. Such checks are basic safety
protocol. The absence of trained personnel on a school vehicle constitutes a
grave lapse and makes the school administration jointly liable with the railway
authorities.
A woefully Inadequate Compensation Regime and need to
invoke public law remedy
The compensation announced so far underscores another layer
of the problem. The State Government has committed ₹5 lakh to each family. The
Railways, under the no-fault liability scheme, must pay ₹8 lakh. But what does
₹13 lakh mean to a parent who has lost their child — a child who may have grown
into a doctor, a civil servant, a teacher? No sum can be “adequate,” but
compensation must be at least symbolic of the value we place on life and a sign
of institutional responsibility. Currently, it falls far short.
This case should not be resolved purely through civil suits
or insurance claims. This is a fit case for a public law remedy, under Article
21 of the Constitution — the right to life. The Supreme Court, in judgments
such as Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa and Rudul Sah v. State of
Bihar, has held that monetary compensation must be paid by the State for
the violation of fundamental rights when death or injury occurs due to State
inaction or neglect. The High Court should entertain a public interest litigation
(PIL) or even act suo motu to direct the payment of at least ₹1 crore
per victim. This would reflect the State’s acknowledgment of its failure and
its resolve to act with moral seriousness.
A Moment for Systemic Overhaul
The Alapakkam tragedy must serve as a catalyst for reform.
There are thousands of unmanned or poorly managed railway crossings across
India. The installation of interlocking systems and sensor-based warnings
should be non-negotiable, not subject to budgetary whims or bureaucratic
lethargy.
Safety upgrades are often deferred in favour of other
capital projects. But the cost of delay is not just fiscal — it is paid in
lives. We need a zero-tolerance policy for safety oversight, especially where
children are involved.
Time to Rethink the Compensation Framework
The current compensation structure under the Railway Claims
Tribunal Act is inadequate. The ₹8 lakh figure has remained stagnant and does
not reflect the real socio-economic value of a lost life. Compensation must be
indexed to inflation and must reflect a minimum threshold of decency in
catastrophic events caused by public authorities.
Moreover, the claims process is cumbersome. Victims’
families are often left to navigate a bureaucratic maze in the midst of their
grief. Automatic, time-bound payouts must replace litigation-heavy mechanisms.
Accountability of Schools and Regulatory Reforms
Educational institutions must not be exempt from scrutiny.
Every school transport vehicle must be required to have a driver and an
attendant, and undergo regular inspections. The District Education Officer
(DEO) and Transport Commissioner must be empowered to conduct safety audits,
with penalties including withdrawal of school licenses for repeat violations. The
Right to Education must not become the right to be exposed to danger.
Memory Must Lead to Change
The Alapakkam tragedy will likely disappear from the
headlines in a week or two. But for the families, the pain will remain eternal.
For the rest of us, this must become a moral and policy inflection point. We
cannot be a society that moves on without demanding accountability. Let these
children not become just another statistic. Let their memory become the
foundation upon which a safer, more humane system is built. We owe them that
much — and more.
K.Kannan was a Judge of the Punjab & Haryana High
Court and formerly, the Chairman of the National Railway Claims Tribunal at New
Delhi
