{"id":163,"date":"2019-09-08T20:10:44","date_gmt":"2019-09-08T14:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/railsamachar.com\/english\/?p=163"},"modified":"2019-09-08T20:13:14","modified_gmt":"2019-09-08T14:43:14","slug":"nfr-two-derailments-one-shutdown-after-rlys-ignored-safety-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/railsamachar.com\/english\/?p=163","title":{"rendered":"NFR : Two derailments, one shutdown after Rlys ignored safety warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lumding-Silchar<\/strong>\u00a0line in operation after corrective steps taken -Railways<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI am of the opinion that the newly converted BG single line between New Haflong-Ditokcherra-Badarpur-Silchar can\u2019t be opened for passenger traffic without danger to travelling public\u2026\u201d -CRS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe matter you are referring to happened much before I took charge -A K Mittal, ME\/RB<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Railway Ministry was \u201cin a hurry\u201d to open the line because the Assam assembly elections were due in April 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

New Delhi :\u00a0<\/strong>WARNING OF \u201ccatastrophic disaster\u201d, the Commissioner of Railway Safety<\/strong>\u00a0(CRS) concluded in the middle of 2015 that the Lumding-Silchar broad-gauge link in Assam, a key arterial track in the Northeast, posed a \u201cdanger to travelling public\u201d. This was the first red flag. Documents available show that at least three other senior Railway officials cited the safety warning to raise objections over the line. But the Railway Ministry opened the line to passenger trains in November that year. Just four months later, the line had to be shut for three months following two back-to-back derailments of passenger trains amid landslides and rainfall \u2014 there were no casualties.<\/p>\n

The line was re-opened in August 2016, after some corrective measures were taken, and the track has been in operation since then.<\/p>\n

When contacted,\u00a0H K Jaggi, general manager, Northeast Frontier Railway Construction Organisation\u00a0<\/strong>(NFR\/CON), which built the line, said,\u00a0\u201cThere were derailments due to slippage in the ghat section, which is common. The line has been functioning without any incident for over a year now. Now we have identified 14 locations for patrolling\u2026 instrumentation in many places has also been done.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The link has 79 major and 340 minor bridges, and 21 tunnels. In his report, submitted in July 2015,\u00a0S Nayak, the CRS, wrote: \u201cHaving inspected the Broad Gauge line\u2026and having various technical discussions with Railway officials including detailed correspondences made with Railway Administration, I am of the opinion that the newly converted BG single line between New Haflong-Ditokcherra-Badarpur-Silchar can\u2019t be opened for passenger traffic without danger to travelling public\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The clearance by CRS, a statutory safety regulator under the Civil Aviation Ministry, is mandatory for opening any line for passenger operations.<\/p>\n

On April 19, 2016, eight months after the CRS report, the Chief Bridge Engineer shut the line for two days for passenger trains, citing safety issues. On April 23, the Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express from New Delhi to Silchar derailed between Ditokcherra and Banderkhal. On April 26, the train, on its return leg, derailed between Mahur and Phiding.<\/p>\n

The 210-km section provides subsequent connectivity to Manipur on one side and Mizoram on the other. Lumding and Silchar were originally connected by a metre gauge line. The broad gauge project started around 1997, as part of a Rs 3,500-crore National Project. However, around 52 km of the new line was diverted through a geologically challenging stretch in the hills of the Indo-Burma range.<\/p>\n

Stressing that any corrective measure would only bring \u201climited relief\u201d, Nayak\u2019s report stated:\u00a0\u201cThe stability of the formation, tunnels, bridges, need to be holistically reviewed by a team of experts in geo-technology and structural engineering both in-house and from outside to formulate Action Plan for immediate short term and long term satisfactory performance\u2026 any failure in the critical section [New Haflong-Ditokcherra hill section] has potential for a catastrophic disaster, Railway Administration is urged to consider every possible risk and systematically address its mitigation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the CRS verdict,\u00a0the NFR\/CON sent a letter to the Railway Board claiming that Nayak\u2019s observations had been complied with. But this letter, sent within a week after the CRS report was received, did not include the consent of two key officials concerned \u2014 the Chief Bridge Engineer and the Chief Track Engineer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On July 29, 2015, records show, the Railway Board sanctioned the opening of the line by \u201ccondoning\u201d some of the relatively minor issues flagged by the CRS, such as non-standard length of sleeper and non-provision of \u201ccatch-siding and slip siding\u201d.<\/p>\n

Then came the second and third red flags. The then general manager of Northeast Frontier Railway,\u00a0R S Virdi,<\/strong>\u00a0refused to open the line stating that the CRS stipulations had not been fully complied with.\u00a0R K Gupta,<\/strong>\u00a0who succeeded Virdi, refused to move on the line, too, citing the same reason.<\/p>\n

Following Gupta\u2019s departure in October, the line was opened after a safety certificate was obtained from the new zonal general manager, based on a report from the NFR\/CON, which asserted that stipulations laid down by the CRS had been complied with.<\/p>\n

However, within a few months, a fourth red flag came up, this time from the Chief Bridge Engineer of the Northeast Frontier Railway, Alok Kumar Verma.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In January 2016, in an internal note to the general manager, Verma wrote:\u00a0\u201c\u2026the conditions for stability are most unfavourable and there is a serious threat to the safety of trains from the instability of the bridges, tunnels and high cuttings\/embankments which together comprise 90 per cent of the route length\u2026 Unfortunately, geology has been cursorily dealt with in deciding the location and alignment\u2026.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Officials told that the old meter gauge line was on the Meghalaya Plateau, where the tracks had \u201ca solid footing\u201d. Parts of the new \u201cdiverted alignment\u201d, between New Haflong and Ditokcherra, is on an area mainly formed of shale, the soft sedimentary rock formed from consolidated mud or clay, they said.<\/p>\n

When contacted,\u00a0V K Gupta,<\/strong>\u00a0the then Railway Board Member (Engineering), who is credited with completing the gauge conversion, denied that safety issues were overlooked.\u00a0\u201cIt never happens that the CRS says the line is unsafe and the Railways overrules it. The CRS might make certain observations, but they are complied with following which the lines are opened,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe general manager signs the safety certificate and it carries signatures of at least 25 other senior officials of the zonal railways. If point A has to be connected with point B, many things can come in the way, be it folds, be it faults,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>said Gupta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe area in question sees rainfall for six months during which time there might be landslides and other things. But there is a difference between a line being structurally unsafe and routine maintenance issues. The old meter gauge line used to be shut for months,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Official sources claimed that the Railway Ministry was \u201cin a hurry\u201d to open the line because the Assam assembly elections were due in April 2016, but Gupta denied this charge. Incidentally, after his retirement from service in 2016, Gupta was appointed as an advisor to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.<\/p>\n

Speaking to press,\u00a0Aditya Kumar Mittal, who succeeded Gupta as Railway Board Member (Engineering),<\/strong>\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cThe matter you are referring to happened much before I took charge, but I can tell you generally that the Himalayas have an unpredictable geology and there can be surprises. But that\u2019s a natural phenomenon everywhere. Now if you see, the line is functional without any problems.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source :\u00a0Indian Express<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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