Collapse of pier led to mishap: report

By G. Prabhakaran

PALAKKAD, JULY 7. The report of an expert team of the Indian Navy that investigated into the collapse of the pier of the railway bridge at Kadalundi, which was submitted to the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety, says that the crucial pier had broken under the weight of the train leading to the accident.

The divers of the expert team led by Lt. Col. T.N. Srikumar of the Cochin Naval Base, who had videographed and taken photos of the broken pier, have submitted a diagram giving the `details of the fractured pier upstream of Kadalundi river on June 30.' This clearly shows that there was no sinkage of the pier.

The breakage shown in the diagram explains why the girder had slanted to the left leading to the collapse of the rail coaches to the left of the bridge (in the direction of movement), leading to the death of 52 passengers and grievously injuring over 250.

Sources in the Railways said that a detailed probe had brought out a startling fact of a second breakage. The Commission, inquiring into the disaster, is learnt to be of the opinion that one of these breakages was an old one which had escaped the attention of maintenance engineers of the Railway Civil Engineering Department. The inquiry has revealed that the Railways did not have a system of proper inspection for underwater structure of bridges while the crack above the bridge (called the super structure) is examined by the gangman upwards to the Chief Engineer. The sub-structure is inspected by just one diver and that too once a year irrespective of the quantum of traffic passing over the bridge, technical experts in the Railways said.

They said that the pier received a severe jolt each time a heavy goods train passed over the bridge. Besides, the Railways had not taken timely action to replace the bridge piers which were made of cast iron 140 years ago by the British. They said that cast iron was an outdated material used for piers and these should have been replaced by steel or RCC material. Sources said that there were seven more such dangerous bridges in the Palakkad Railway Division and nearly 70 in the Indian Railways. The diagram submitted by the Naval team shows that the broken portion was slanting to one side, indicating that the pier had collapsed even before the arrival of the ill-fated train.

The experts from the State Forensic Laboratory had stated before the inquiry commission that there was no hit mark or external damage on the broken pier. This exposes the claim made by some civil engineers that some of the train coaches may have fallen over the pier and caused the breakage. In that case, the pier would have had huge hit marks and scratches, it is pointed out.

The Director of State Forensic Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Vishnu Potty, has also told the Chief Safety Commissioner (CRS), Mr. R. Rajamani, that his investigations had conclusively proved that there was no derailment prior to the accident and that it was the breakage of this pier which has made the girder above it give way under the weight of the train, causing the tragedy.

Sources in the Railways said that the regular bridge inspection was totally lacking. The lone diver who is given the task of examining the cast iron pier has no proper equipment like headgear or full lights. The diver is learnt to have told the inquiry commission that headgears were not of much use as the sight becomes impaired due to muddy waters.

Besides, the inner pillar which bears the load of the bridge is not examined. The inner pillars could have developed fatigue cracks over the years. Sources in the technical wing of the Railways said that this inner pillar had not been examined for the past 140 years.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : 'Love of human kind is the essence of living'
Next     : CM vows to make State investor-friendly