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| Work in progress on the railway track at Maripur in Muzaffarpur on Sunday. Picture by Lokesh Bihari |
East Central Railway, Hajipur, is contemplating constructing bridges at Maripur to ease traffic flow and provide safety to commuters in view of the mishap last Wednesday.
District magistrate (DM) Anupam Kumar has asked senior railway authorities to expedite the process of constructing concrete and Bailey bridges at Maripur.
Talking to The Telegraph, the DM said rail officials have expressed willingness to construct the Bailey bridge immediately.
The divisional railway manager, Sonepur, Rajesh Kumar Tiwary, said the railway is planning to construct two bridges — one concrete rail overbridge and a Bailey bridge. “Members of the engineering cell of the division are busy drafting the outline of the Bailey bridge. The bridge would be constructed in a month. Necessary formalities are being completed,” said Tiwary.
The DM, too, has exerted pressure on the railways to expedite construction of the Bailey bridge in view of difficulties faced by the traffic police. The bridge would make life easier for cyclists, motorists, rickshaws, autorickshaws and lightweight vehicles. Rail safety commissioner Sudarshan Nayak, who had inspected the mishap site and held parleys with officials, said the railway would also construct a Concrete rail overbridge. Nayak said Tiwary and other officials have requested the Muzaffarpur DM to provide help in acquiring plots to construct the bridges.
The safety commissioner said he would furnish a preliminary report to the Railway Board in the first week of January 2014.
Sources said officials of engineering, carriage, rail traffic and signal cells have come under the scanner for the accident at Maripur on November 27.
The Bailey is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge (a structure of connected elements forming triangular units), while the concrete bridge is built for the purpose of covering a certain distance. Typically, concrete bridges allow vehicles or people to cross over physical obstructions, such as lakes, rivers, valleys, or roads.
