Bhopal Aug. 5: Tragedy struck twice within minutes last night when two trains derailed at the same spot in Madhya Pradesh as the tracks over a rain-fed river were washed away in a surge, killing at least 37 people and fuelling suspicions of laxity in monsoon patrolling.
Over 25 people are still missing, feared swept away in the Kali Machak river after the accident in which the Mumbai-Varanasi Kamayani Express went off the tracks over a culvert first at 11.30pm, followed by the Patna-Mumbai Janata Express on the parallel track 10 minutes later.
Most of the dead were from the Janata Express whose coaches got trapped under those of the first train. Locals helped rescue over 250 people. Around 21 bogies of both trains derailed, rail officials said.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu told Parliament that "as per available information," 12 passengers had died, while blaming the accidents on flash floods. Prabhu planned to fly to the spot in a chopper but could not because of bad weather and returned to Delhi from Bhopal.
But chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan feared more casualties. "The bodies are spread all over the place, within a radius of 5km," Chouhan said, having travelled to the site 160km from Bhopal by train apparently to restore confidence in the railways.
Chouhan's move was little consolation for the Barthares who were on the Janata Express. Nine members of the family, on way to the Sai Baba temple in Maharshtra's Shirdi, perished.
Bhopal residents Bharat Koli and wife Sushma had boarded the Kamayani Express at Pachora in Maharashtra last evening. "We were in the general coach, trying to sleep. Suddenly, we heard a loud bang. It seemed the train had hit something big. It was pitch dark outside. When we tried stepping out of bogie, there was water all over. Then we realised that some bogies had derailed," Bharat said.
D. Kumavat was in the S-6 sleeper coach of Kamayani. "The TTE was checking tickets. Suddenly, the train jerked to a stop and tilted. A lot of water entered our coach and all of us got drenched. We ran into the next coach. That too was flooded."
Divisional railway manager Alok Kumar blamed the tragedy on a sudden surge but denied faults in the bridge, saying two other trains had passed the spot barely 15 minutes before. "The base material (the ballast) under the tracks got washed away in heavy rains," Kumar said.
Chief minister Chouhan offered a similar assessment. "Prima facie, it appears that the cause was the heavy rains not witnessed in the region in recent memory. Due to it, base material under the tracks got washed out," PTI quoted him as saying. A state official said the area had received 11 inches of rain last night and likened the situation to that of a cloudburst.
But railway sources said lack of "monsoon patrolling", including night inspections, of tracks may have caused the derailments.
"For every such (risk-prone) section, the divisional engineer shall prescribe the period of year when normal monsoon patrolling is to be done. If local conditions warrant, the inspector of the section concerned may introduce or continue night patrolling outside stipulated dates," Chapter 10 of the Railway Permanent Manual states. It adds that all trains between sunset and sunrise should get the maximum protection possible.
Akhilesh Gupta, a state water resources department engineer, denied suggestions by some rail officials in Delhi that the release from a dam could have caused the flash floods. "The dam is over 20km from the site. In any case, the dam does not have a barrier, so the question of suddenly releasing water does not arise. There are many streams that merge with the Kali Machak river."
The railways have ordered an inquiry and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the passengers who died. The Madhya Pradesh government has said it will pay a similar amount.
Thirty-five trains on the route - linking the western region with the eastern and northern zones - have been cancelled and several others diverted.
