The fate of Running Staff

Jnaneshwari Express driver yet to get over mishap trauma

B Sridhar TNN | Apr 12, 2012,

JAMSHEDPUR: It is now over two years since the tragic Jnaneshwari Express mishap took place, but the assistant driver of the goods train that accidentally collided with the derailed train near Jhargram on the Tatanagar-Howrah rail section, is struggling to come out of the mental trauma which he suffered after the mishap.

Nirbhay Kumar, the 35-year-old assistant driver, who was on board when the locomotive that collided with the passenger train on the fateful night, was again admitted to the Tata Motors Hospital on Tuesday.

The magnitude of the trauma could be gauged from the fact that Kumar kept repeatedly uttering "stop the train...rescue the driver"., when he was rushed to the hospital from the railway hospital, where he was initially admitted.

"He is passing through deep mental trauma for the last two years since the accident and we are still not sure as to when we will recover. We have urged the railway authorities to shift him from the running staff job and engage him in some clerical assignment," said Nirbhay's brother Kumar Pritam. Kumar's wife Sulochana Devi was not available for her comments.

Following the Howrah-Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Jnaneshwari Superfast Deluxe Express mishap on the night of May 28, 2010, between Khemasoli and Sardiha stations, in which about 150 passengers were killed, Kumar was admitted to the Jamshedpur Railway Hospital after his mental condition worsened.

Kumar's senior and the driver who was on the wheels of the goods train, Reranjan Singh, a resident of Kitadih, Baghbera, was killed in the mishap. Kumar was later shifted to Kolkata-based Garden Reach hospital for treatment and from there to Ranchi-based Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP). "After prolonged treatment , the doctors found him fit to join duty and (under observation) he was deployed at area railway manager's office on a clerical job on temporary basis recently," said a fellow driver.

Maintaining anonymity, the driver also questioned the doctor's decision to allow Kumar to join duty. "He can hardly drive his two-wheeler or identify any individual. I wonder how the doctors found him fit to join duty," he asked.

Chakradharpur senior divisional commercial manager A K Haldar was not available for comments despite repeated calls. However, officials at the divisional railway manager office said the onus is on rail workers Union to pursue the case effectively.

"I am not in regular touch with Kumar's family. However, now that the matter has come to my notice I will look into it and extend all possible help on behalf of the Union," said All India Loco Running Staff Association president H N Singh. Kumar's three-year-old son have just started going to the school.