Madras High Court
K.Sathish vs The Secretary To The Government on 26 November, 2018
Author: P.Rajamanickam
Bench: M.Sathyanarayanan, P.Rajamanickam
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 26.11.2018
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.SATHYANARAYANAN
AND
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.RAJAMANICKAM
W.P.No.19278 of 2018
K.Sathish .. Petitioner
Vs.
1.The Secretary to the Government,
Fort St.George,
Chennai-600 001.
2.The Director General of Police,
O/o. The Director General of Police,
Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai, Chennai.
3.The Ministry of Railways,
Rail Bhavan,
New Delhi-110 001.
4.The General Manager,
Southern Railways,
Park Town, Chennai-600 003.
5.The Additional General Manager,
Public Grievance Cell,
Southern Railways,
Park Town, Chennai-600 003.
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6.The Chief Electrical Engineer,
Southern Railways,
Park Town, Chennai-600 003. ... Respondents
Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,
praying for a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to take
immediate action to install/fix the safety doors in all coaches in the
Suburban, MRTS trains plying from Chennai to Suburban areas in order to
ensure that the commuters have a life safety travel in the train.
For Petitioner : Mr.N.Umapathi,
For Respondents : Mr.T.N.Rajagopalan,
Government Pleader for R1 and R2
Mr.P.T.Ramkumar,
Standing Counsel for R3 to R6
ORDER
( Order of the Court was made by M.SATHYANARAYANAN, J.) By consent, this Writ Petition is taken up for final disposal.
2. The present writ petition, styled as a Public Interest Litigation, is filed on the alleged ground of inaction on the part of the respondents in not providing automatic closure doors in all coaches in the Suburban and Mass Rapid Transit System [MRTS] trains, as there are persons indulging in foot- http://www.judis.nic.in 3 board travel, which sometimes result in fatal or grievous injuries. In this regard, the petitioner has submitted a representation dated 24.07.2018 to the respondents praying for appropriate action to install automatic closure doors in all coaches in the Suburban and MRTS trains in the city of Chennai and since his representation failed to evoke any kind of response, the petitioner has come forward with this writ petition.
3. The Writ Petition was entertained and notices were ordered and this Court, vide order dated 16.08.2018, after going through the Status Report filed on behalf of the Railways, directed the respondents/Railways to conduct a study as to how metro trains in Calcutta and Delhi are operating. In compliance of the same, the fourth respondent has filed a report dated 05.10.2018.
4. Mr.N.Umapathi, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would submit that the Railways, being an important public utility service, namely transportation of passengers, is equally under obligation to provide safety and security to the passengers and it can be assured and ensured, only if automatic closure doors are installed in all coaches in Suburban and MRTS http://www.judis.nic.in 4 trains and despite the said important fact being brought to the knowledge of the officials concerned, no response is forthcoming and therefore, the petitioner is constrained to approach this Court by filing this writ petition.
5. Mr.P.T.Ram Kumar, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents 3 to 6/Southern Railways has invited the attention of this Court to the report dated 05.10.2018 filed on behalf of the fourth respondent and would submit that Suburban and MRTS trains cannot be compared with Metro Trains for the reason that Metro Trains most of the time run in underground tunnels and over-bridges and therefore, automatic closure doors are necessary, otherwise it may result in catastrophic consequences and in all probability would result in loss of human lives. It is the further submission of the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents 3 to 6 that insofar as Suburban and MRTS trains, on account of overgoing population coupled with the fact that railway fares are cheaper, very many people prefer travelling in Suburban and MRTS trains, unlike in Metro Trains where the passengers cannot be accommodated more than the capacity. It is also the submission of the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents that a study was conducted as to the level of http://www.judis.nic.in 5 Carbon Dioxide found in the coaches with passengers and doors in open condition in Mumbai Suburban and MRTS trains and since it exceeded the permissible limits, steps have been taken to install two numbers of Forced Ventilation System in Suburban Trains which can draw outside air and forces fresh air inside the coach with doors open and all the new coaches are now built with forced ventilation facility, which is essential to improve the comfort level of passengers.
6. The learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents 3 to 6 has also drawn the attention of this Court to the tabulated column given in the said report and would submit that trial based Air-conditioned local trains with automatic closure doors is in operation in Western and Central Railways in Mumbai and gradually, it will be installed in all new coaches especially to Suburban and MRTS trains being run by Southern Railways. It is also brought to the knowledge of this Court that provision of Automatic Closure Doors is the policy decision of the Railways and there cannot be any positive order to that effect and in this regard, the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the Railways has placed reliance upon the Taken Up Public Interest Litigation in W.P.No.17233 of 2013, wherein this Court, http://www.judis.nic.in 6 vide order dated 28.06.2016 has observed that it is neither practicable nor feasible for the Court to get into these administrative issues and solutions have to be found by the respondents and since solution has been found in that regard, gradually the Suburban and MRTS trains with automatic closure doors would be put in place and therefore, prays for dismissal of this writ petition.
7. This Court has considered the rival submissions and also perused the entire materials placed before it.
8. No doubt, Suburban and MRTS trains operating in the cities of Mumbai and Chennai are overcrowded and sometimes passengers are also indulging in heroic attitude showing their grit and courage and it sometimes lead to loss of human lives on account of falling down from the running trains. It is also relevant to extract the communication sent by the General Manager, Integral Coach Factory, Chennai to the Director General, RDSO, Manak Nagar, Lucknow in No.2013/Elect(G)/181/1 Pt.3 dated 23.03.2018, which speaks about partial air-conditioning of EMU rakes of Mumbai Suburban and it is relevant to extract the same:
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(i) Six coaches per 12 car EMU rake comprising and basic unit and middle basic unit of existing EMUs of Mumbai suburban equipped with Siemens/Bombardier/Medha electrics shall be air-conditioned.
(ii) For partial air-conditioning of existing EMU rakes, new fully air-conditioned EMU rakes having electrical and mechanical compatibility with existing coaches/units shall be manufactured by ICF. The new air-conditioned units shall be manufactured with DMC/NDMC in the end so as to have vestibuling across two adjacent units similar to the existing air-conditioning EMU rake running over Western Railway.
(iii) Two air-conditioned units comprising end basis unit and middle basic unit shall be exchanged with similar non air-
conditioned units of existing rakes and released non air- conditioned basic units should be utilized for formation of non air-conditioned 12 car EMU rakes to be transferred to Zonal Railways other than WR and CR for which allotment shall be advised in due course. It shall be ensured that location of air conditioned six coaches in a rake on both the Railways i.e., WR & CR is same during train operation. Schematic diagram indicating 6 air-conditioned coaches in existing rake is enclosed herewith.
(iv) In first phase, ICF shall plan to partially air-condition 64 EMU rakes equipped with Siemens or Bombardier http://www.judis.nic.in 8 electrics and 14 EMU rakes equipped with Medha electrics.
(v) Accordingly, for partial air-conditioning of 64 EMU rakes equipped with Siemens or Bombardier electrics, ICF shall float limited tender for electrics for 32 rakes with upgraded transformer and auxiliary converter on Siemens and Bombardier having full electrical and mechanical compatibility with existing EMU rakes. The bid shall be decided based on competitive bidding process. As mentioned above, these air conditioned units shall be exchanged with existing non AC units to form 64 partial air conditioned existing rakes and released 32 non AC EMU rakes shall be transferred to other Zonal Railway as mentioned in preceding para.
(vi) Similarly for partial air conditioning of 14 existing EMU rakes equipped with Medha electrics, ICF shall manufacture 7 fully air conditioned Medha rake with upgraded transformer and auxiliary converter having full electrical and mechanical compatibility with existing Medha EMU rake. As mentioned above, these air conditioned units shall be exchanged with existing non AC units to form 14 partially air-conditioned EMU rakes and released 07 non AC EMU rakes shall be transferred to other Zonal Railway as mentioned in preceding para.
(vii)Seating arrangement in air-conditioned class shall be decided in due course in consultation with RDSO. http://www.judis.nic.in 9
(viii) Necessary modification of software in existing EMU rakes of Mumbai suburban targeted for partial air- conditioning and other related work for effective integration of the air-conditioned units to the non air- conditioned units shall be under the scope of contract of ICF.
(ix) The additional essential features in air-conditioned EMU coaches shall be as under:
a) Automatic door closure.
b) Upgradation of TCMS
c) Upgradation of PA/PIS
d) Provision of PECU for emergency talk back.
e) Provision of fire detection and suppression system.
(x) Feasibility of provision of CCTV shall be explored while framing the scheme for above modification.
(xi) ICF may continue with development of fully air-
conditioned rake with underslung electrics as mentioned in GM / ICF letter ref (ii) above.
(xii) The scheme of air-conditioning shall be finalized by ICF in consultation with RDSO.
(xiii) The provisions under bulk RSP item no.1280 in 2018- 19 for air-conditioning in EMU rake and other provisions under bulk RSP for new manufacture of EMU rakes shall be utilized for this work.
(xiv) ICF shall take up the work on priority and indicate time line within week's time to Board.
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9. It is brought to the knowledge of this Court that Suburban and MRTS trains are being run only in the cities of Mumbai and Chennai and it is made known that nearly 10.10 Lakhs of people are daily using those trains in the City of Chennai and there is an immediate necessity to install automatic closure doors in all coaches to be manufactured for use in Suburban and MRTS trains. It is also the stand of the respondents/railways that in respect of trains which are being run, it may not be feasible or practicable to fix automatic closure doors, as they have to incur cost of nearly Rs.3,500/- Crores and requires long time to replace them and also for the reason that operation of the trains should be gradually reduced, which may lead to inconvenience to the travelling pubic and may also lead to law and order problem on account of reduction of number of trains being operated.
10. Hence, insofar as the installation of automatic closure doors in all the coaches in Suburban and MRTS trains plying in the City of Chennai, it is for the respondents to take a call and this Court cannot issue any positive direction to that effect. As regards installation of automatic closure doors, it http://www.judis.nic.in 11 is also brought to the knowledge of this Court that one trial train with automatic closed doors and air conditioned coaches is being run in Mumbai Suburban train and it is the stand of the respondents/Railways that they would slowly and gradually introduce and increase new trains with automatic doors and in respect of Mumbai, it is likely to be introduced during 2019.
11. As already pointed out only in two cities viz., Mumbai and Chennai, Suburban and MRTS trains are being operated and there is an imminent and urgent necessity to manufacture new Suburban trains with automatic door facilities and therefore, the respondents/Railways shall find out the possibility of introduction of such trains in Suburban and MRTS in the City of Chennai, atleast by next year, 2019, especially for the benefit and safety of the travelling public.
12. In the result, this Writ Petition stands disposed of accordingly. No costs.
[M.S.N., J.] [P.R.M, J.]
26.11.2018
Index : yes / No
Internet : yes / No
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jvm
M.SATHYANARAYANAN, J.,
and
P.RAJAMANICKAM, J.
Jvm
To
1.The Ministry of Railways,
Rail Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001.
4.The General Manager,
Southern Railways, Park Town, Chennai-600 003.
5.The Additional General Manager, Public Grievance Cell, Southern Railways, Park Town, Chennai-600 003.
6.The Chief Electrical Engineer, Southern Railways, Park Town, Chennai-600 003. W.P.No.19278 of 2018
26.11.2018 http://www.judis.nic.in