How safe is Silchar-Lumding Railway line?
From our Correspondent, Sentinel Assam
SILCHAR, June 28: The collapase of the 144 metre long bridge No. 108 over river Bailar between Mupa and Dihakha stations under Maibong sub-division of North Cachar Hills in which 10 railway men were crushed to death by rice laden wagons that hurtlod down a 100 ft gorge on Monday last, has brought to the fore the big question about the safety of passengers as well as staff. Built in 1895, the bridge was known to be fragile. In fact, the century old 215 km long Badarpur-Lumding MG hills section with 37 tunnels and 586 bridges is no more able to cope with the growing thrust of passenger and goods traffic. The tunnels and bridges, 107 years old, were built with masonary in lime mortar.
A report of the General Manager (Construction), N F Railway, in 1989, a copy of which was with The Sentinel, said, “These structures, tunnels and bridges, have already outlived their prescribe service life and now justify replacement”. The report added “Rebuilding those structures under traffic flow can hardly be possible.” Taking into consideration the sustaining capacity of the hills section, reaching its optimum stage, and the ever increasing pressure on it due to expanding rolling stock, the General Manager wrote to the Railway Board to approve the proposal of additional alignment of 31.34 km between Harangajao and Jatinga, known as a zone of high gradient and accident prone. But, it was never considered. The critical section with crippling gradient remains critical. This new alignment was described as inescapable for the safety of passengers and increasing projection of traffic.
A high level study group constituted by the Railways, Surface Transport and External Affairs, on the other hand, felt the need of BG access in view of the near stagnant and fragile MG route in order to ensure safety and enhance the intra regional transport capacity in the region. Silchar-Lumding hills section deserves particular attention considering the fact that it traverses a difficult terrain for nearly 16 kms of continuous steep gradients and numerous sharp curves. 30 per cent of the tracks are sick, besides mounting arrears of renewals and replacements of permanent way of rolling stock which are linked with the safety of operation.
Major cause of concern is the gradual sliding down of hill slopes which is being attrabuted to the tactonic movement along the famous Haflong thrust as identified on Landsat images. During mansoon, gushing rain waters down the hills is leading to subsistence of soil, affecting the track and bridges. Most of the bridges are in curves and grades. Some of them are viaducts across steep gorges in between two adjacent slopes of hills. Doyang Bridge, biggest one in the hills, calls for special monitoring. It has both vertical and horizontal curves. The British made provision of hidden works in the forms of “boulder drains” and “heading” inside the hillocks to flush out water easily in order to prevent landsliding. These “drains” and “headings” number 262 in the entire hills section. Besides, there were “outfall cc blocks” “sausage”, “steel-chute” or “concrete-chute” as well as “leap wall” at the face of the bridge to drain out water falling on the track from hillocks. Travelling public want to know if these provisions exist.
For the safety and speedy connectivity, the only practicable alternative is to complete the engoing Bg track. But, the slow pace of work on the BG railway line that began in 1997 raises many intriguing questions.
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