The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called for an action taken report from the Odisha government on a complaint filed by a Delhi-based advocate who had alleged that the State government and the Indian Railways failed to maintain the dignity of the dead in the case of the Balasore train accident.
Responding to the complaint filed by Radhakanta Tripathy, a Supreme Court lawyer, the NHRC directed the Chief Secretary of Odisha and the Chairman, Railway Board, to submit the report within a period of four weeks. The complainant had said that questions on whether the belongings of the victims have been preserved remained unanswered. He also said compensation to next of kin of the deceased have not been settled even after over a month of the tragedy.
The complainant had alleged mistreatment of bodies due to the lack of morgues.
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“Odisha is reportedly facing a morgue crunch as a large number of unclaimed dead bodies from Balasore’s triple train accident, have piled up at its mortuaries. The State government, which is unable to cope with the large numbers, has shifted 187 of bodies to Bhubaneswar from Balasore, a district headquarters town. However, there is a space crunch in Bhubaneswar as well,” the complainant said.
Terming the Balasore accident as a classic case of failure of the Ministry of Railways, Government of India and the State government, the complainant urged the NHRC to recommend steps to be taken to prevent such mishaps.
