Tracks Unsafe but Order to Stop Trains Ignored in Assam

The Narendra Modi government fulfilled its promise of providing first passenger rail link between Silchar, in Assam, and New Delhi. The links connects an important city in Assam with the national capital.

The train was launched ahead of the Assam Assembly elections with great fanfare but it seems the safety standards were not met.

Just two months after the flag-off, a landslide derailed the newly launched train between Ditokcherra and Bandarkhal in Assam on April 23. The alert driver stopped the train in time to prevent any casualties.

CNN-News18 has learnt that all passenger trains were suspended on the route five days before the accident due to an order of the chief bridge engineer Alok Verma.

In this letter Verma categorically stated, "Operation of passenger services between new Haflong and Ditokcherra stations on the diverted alignment should be suspended with immediate effect on account of distress in the bridges and cutting."

But train services were resumed within a day of that letter on the order of the General Manager of North East Frontier Railways. But Verma sent another letter on April 21.

"The undersigned took a decision because of the dangers to the stability of the tunnels, bridges, high cutting and embankments as a result of multiple serious fundamental defects in their design. These defects are the root cause of the susceptibility of these structures to catastrophic damage by ground failures, including the various forms of landslides in monsoon rains and earthquakes," he wrote.

The engineer also highlighted how passenger services were resumed in a highly irregular manner on the basis of a note prepared by two officers of Lumding Division after a hurriedly conducted inspection on the critical hill-section. The inspection completely overlooked the design defects and the signs of distress in the tunnels, bridges and cuttings.

Interestingly, the engineer suggested the railway may have to abandon the 40 km route in the critical hill-section as it is not possible to increase the stability of bridges due to natural reasons.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety listed 15 measures that must be undertaken before opening the line for train movement. The line was under construction for over a decade and experienced several landslides and other forms of ground failures during the constructions.

The report of CRS highlights that faced with so many failures posed by unstable slopes, railway had engaged several experts to deal with the problems, but improvements were not enough.