The derailment of the train in the Konkan Railway Sarzora-Balli tunnel without any loss of life is a miracle for the 700 odd passengers. It could easily have been the other way.
The number of rail accidents have been on the increase all over India for reasons of track maintenance and other issues which have sadly been de-emphasised irrespective of the Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu saying otherwise. We are seeing now accidents happening on the Konkan Railway route even before the monsoon season which indicates that everything is not going very well in terms of its operational management.
There have been also plans to run faster trains on the Konkan Railway route which should be avoided considering that with the soft laterite rock in the tunnels, particularly in the monsoon season, there is every chance of it disintegrating inside the tunnels with the increased vibrations of the faster trains leading to tunnel collapse.
There has also been talk of doubling the track of the Konkan Railway which should not be done with the present orientation but another track built with a separate orientation which will connect the capital city Panjim also. The separate orientation may be costlier but in strategic terms it will give an alternative route and avoid the accident-prone existing route of the Konkan Railway.
Srinivas Kamat, Alto-Betim
