12-04-2006, 08:49 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Bhagalpur tragedy: Lalu's railway carries burden of history </b>
Pioneer.com
Sidharth Mishra | New Delhi
Bhagalpur - where the freak accident of an 150-year-old bridge falling on a train occurred early on Saturday - is divided into two distinct halves, with the railway line almost dissecting the town.
There are three points to cross the busy railway line, named by the British the Kiul-Sahebganj-Howrah loop, without a stopover at a crossing gate. These points are: Habibpurpul on the west, Ultapul in the heart of the town and Bholanathpul on the East. Ultapul (the inverted bridge) was called so because the road bridge was built over the railway line, whereas the two others are underpasses.Â
An engineering marvel, Ultapul must have been one of its kinds. The overbridge was built in the 1880s, with only lime and mortar and no steel. With Bhagalpur receiving heavy rains, the underpasses remain submerged in knee-deep water for at least four months of the year with only Ultapul remaining open to traffic. It's unfortunate that the bridge, which served the town for over a century, should literally go down in history, burying 40 people under the debris. It goes to the credit of Lalu Yadav's 'turned around' Railways that even a 'quiet burial' could not be given to an engineering enterprise which served with honour much beyond the time it was meant to.
<b>For those who have been so enthused with the performance of the Railways as to invite Lalu Yadav to IIM classrooms, a travel on the Sahebganj loop could well be a journey into reality check. For ages, this line remained single track. For long, Bhagalpur Congress MP Bhagwat Jha Azad, cricketer Kirti Azad's father, won several elections promising to build a parallel track. Before Azad was forced out of active politics, he did manage to get a sanction for a double track between Bhagalpur and Kajra (near Kiul). On this section, is also a long tunnel, which was declared unsafe about a decade ago, but that has not stopped trains from passing through it.</b>
The track between Bhagalpur and Howrah, through Sahebganj and Pakur, still remains single before it joins the mainline at Burdwan. On this section near Kahalgaon, is a bridge on one of the tributaries of the Ganga. For almost 20 years now trains cross this bridge at slow speed, lest vibrations bring down the structure.
This loop-line before turning towards Howrah bifurcates into two with one going to Assam through Barharwa, Farakka, Malda and New Jalpaiguri. And the two lines are over a century old and a functional museum of British engineering expertise.
With Bholanathpul and Habibpurpul not much younger, we may someday have a newsbreak of train falling on the road passing under it. After all, Saturday's accident must also be first of its kind - bridge falling on a train, after all we are used to hearing trains falling off bridges.
And who is to be credited with it? Who else but Lalu Yadav's 'turned around' Railways. Nowhere in the world is a demolition work allowed to linger for months together. Less than a week ago, some debris had fallen on the tracks at the same place and train services disrupted but no lessons learnt. Believe it or not, medieval-era hammer and spikes were being used to demolish the bridge and bulldozer-cum-crane arrived only after precious human lives were lost.
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Pioneer.com
Sidharth Mishra | New Delhi
Bhagalpur - where the freak accident of an 150-year-old bridge falling on a train occurred early on Saturday - is divided into two distinct halves, with the railway line almost dissecting the town.
There are three points to cross the busy railway line, named by the British the Kiul-Sahebganj-Howrah loop, without a stopover at a crossing gate. These points are: Habibpurpul on the west, Ultapul in the heart of the town and Bholanathpul on the East. Ultapul (the inverted bridge) was called so because the road bridge was built over the railway line, whereas the two others are underpasses.Â
An engineering marvel, Ultapul must have been one of its kinds. The overbridge was built in the 1880s, with only lime and mortar and no steel. With Bhagalpur receiving heavy rains, the underpasses remain submerged in knee-deep water for at least four months of the year with only Ultapul remaining open to traffic. It's unfortunate that the bridge, which served the town for over a century, should literally go down in history, burying 40 people under the debris. It goes to the credit of Lalu Yadav's 'turned around' Railways that even a 'quiet burial' could not be given to an engineering enterprise which served with honour much beyond the time it was meant to.
<b>For those who have been so enthused with the performance of the Railways as to invite Lalu Yadav to IIM classrooms, a travel on the Sahebganj loop could well be a journey into reality check. For ages, this line remained single track. For long, Bhagalpur Congress MP Bhagwat Jha Azad, cricketer Kirti Azad's father, won several elections promising to build a parallel track. Before Azad was forced out of active politics, he did manage to get a sanction for a double track between Bhagalpur and Kajra (near Kiul). On this section, is also a long tunnel, which was declared unsafe about a decade ago, but that has not stopped trains from passing through it.</b>
The track between Bhagalpur and Howrah, through Sahebganj and Pakur, still remains single before it joins the mainline at Burdwan. On this section near Kahalgaon, is a bridge on one of the tributaries of the Ganga. For almost 20 years now trains cross this bridge at slow speed, lest vibrations bring down the structure.
This loop-line before turning towards Howrah bifurcates into two with one going to Assam through Barharwa, Farakka, Malda and New Jalpaiguri. And the two lines are over a century old and a functional museum of British engineering expertise.
With Bholanathpul and Habibpurpul not much younger, we may someday have a newsbreak of train falling on the road passing under it. After all, Saturday's accident must also be first of its kind - bridge falling on a train, after all we are used to hearing trains falling off bridges.
And who is to be credited with it? Who else but Lalu Yadav's 'turned around' Railways. Nowhere in the world is a demolition work allowed to linger for months together. Less than a week ago, some debris had fallen on the tracks at the same place and train services disrupted but no lessons learnt. Believe it or not, medieval-era hammer and spikes were being used to demolish the bridge and bulldozer-cum-crane arrived only after precious human lives were lost.
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