Sinking pillar or weak rail bridge?

By Maleeha Raghaviah

KOZHIKODE, JUNE 23. The Union Minister of State for Railways, Mr. O. Rajagopal, has said that only an investigation would be able to find out the real cause of the accident involving the Mangalore- Chennai Mail at Kadalundi, near Kozhikode, on Friday.

For this, the Railway Security Team is already at the spot. Besides, the report of the Chief Security Commissioner, an autonomous body, is expected to give a detailed picture.

Mr. Rajagopal told The Hindu that the accident occurred at a time when Railways are going full steam with their expansion programmes. The new bridge over the Kadalundi, which is almost complete, is to be commissioned in two months.

Once traffic is shifted to the new bridge, basic changes were to be carried out to the old one. The Mangala Express had passed over the bridge just half an hour before the tragedy, and suddenly something seemed to have happened.

On the assumption that a sinking pillar had resulted in the mishap, Mr. Rajagopal averred that a geological phenomenon could have happened. He pointed out the reported sinking of wells in the region in this regard.

Mr. Varkala Radhakrishnan, MP, who was at the site today, said he had highlighted the condition of rail bridges in the State, particularly in the Malabar area, in a query in the Lok Sabha recently. He was told that periodic inspections were being carried out on the safety of the bridges.

Rail bridges between Shoranur and Kadalundi are over 100 years old, built by the British at the time of the establishment of the Southern Railway. On the assumption that a pillar of the bridge had sunk, he said the digging of a well near the pillar could have resulted in soil erosion leading to the sinking of the pillar.

Mr. Radhakrishnan suggested that all rail bridges be replaced during the track doubling work. Meanwhile, sources said unscientific structuring of railway coaches had come in the way of rescue operations.

The grills of compartments are highly archaic. In most countries fibre glass is used as windows panes on trains.

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