Y¢ onal Railway Manager (DRM), Northern Railways, responsible for the operation, safety My rvost congested anc aliti se and crisis management across one of India’s reat Jor vane jrricd pans Vy sensitive railway divisions. Delhi Railway Station, under your jurisdiction, sees over S$ lakh passengers daily, elht Railway Pic ila belly — alae It’s the peak summer seaso. oneastern routes, the station beces to extreme heatwaves, late trains, and repair delays of passengers, including w comes overcrowded beyond its safe capacity. Hundreds fot Rttrs, itl aninl nal ts A ga infants, and elderly, are stranded on platforms Suddenly, a fake vital nese water shortage, and ineffective announcements. Within moments, panic ens ABE circulates; claiming that a footbridge has collapsed. breaks out on Platform Tr people rush toward exits, and7n the chaos, a stampede jead ‘including 6 children Ye casualty count rises quickly. 17 people are declared vajority of the feceaeea and 3 elderly women. Dozens are critically injured, The ajority ased are migrant workers 4: scan 2 s wer- i e rural underdeveloped states. and lower-income passengers from he tragedy sparks i i i — mi dy sparks national outrage. TV channels broadcast horrific visuals of s fide ching tying relatives, and bloodied platforms. Emotional videos show children searching for their parents in trauma wards. Your office had sent two prior warnings in the past month requesting crowd control support and improvements to public address systems. They were ignored or delayed by higher bureaucratic channels. Now, as the facé of local administration, the entire blame is being pinned on you in media briefings. All casualties are: from general and unreserved compartments. The air-conditioned lounges and premium - class platforms remained unaffected. Accusations of class bias in infrastructure planning are going viral, Further, Several junior staff are emotionally broken. One 24-year-old RPF constable attempted suicide, blaming himself for not being able to stop the crowd. You’re now being asked to send these same employees back on duty for handling crowd control the next day. Moreover, The father of a deceased girl demands to see her final moments via CCTY, sobbing at your feet. A local MP calls you, pressuring you to give preferential treatment to the victims from his constituency — ahead of others. officer in the Railway Board to “tone down” ect “the image of Indian Railways”. You're lead to your transfer or forced retirement. You're being unofficially told by a senior the language in your official report to prot warned that exposing systemic lapses may. rospital and the station. Families are protesting, However, you must ensure trains keep running, I with stretched manpower and emotionally per outside the | is deteriorating. incident occurs — a There's gro and crowd and no se broken teams. eal-time hospital footage of victims and sharing ked whether you want to restrict media access —_— a move that may attract criticism of “gagging and your junior team is collapsing from e broadcasting F You’re as premises Jept in 36 hours, News channels ar unverified family storics. temporarily inside railway the press.” You have barely 5 stress. ethical issues and dilemmas in this situation. ce, your Immediate actions, Railway Board, What ain the key der of importan -jneident report to the hould reflect in your written communication? prevent such tragedies in overcrowded

Topper: Krishna Goyal · AIR 300 · 2025 · Page 31