Kashmir Railway Line: A Safety Sham?
The CRS, Northern Circle, has lost credibility after clearing the first two sections of the line, including the Chenab bridge, without proper testing
Alok Kumar Verma, IRSE (Retd.)
The #Kashmir Railway Line, a project plagued by high costs and low carrying capacity, is now facing serious #Safety concerns. Despite assurances, the #load deflection test on the #Chenab and #Anji bridges and the other critical #bridges seems all set to be a sham.
Finally, the #RailwayBoard seems to have succumbed to the pressure to conduct the mandatory load deflection test on the Chenab and Anji and other first-of-a-kind bridges on this line. A loaded #Freight train arrived on the line yesterday.
But this test is set to be a sham unless the Government intervenes because:
The Commissioner of Railway Safety (#CRS), Northern Circle, has lost #credibility after clearing the first two sections of the line, including the Chenab bridge, without proper testing. His recent statements at the Anji Cable-stayed Bridge further raise doubts about his #competence and #responsibility.
The Railway Board and project officers have shown a consistent pattern of #ignorance and #dishonesty by avoiding crucial #load-deflection tests. Their wrongdoings have been exposed by the Delhi High Court, the CAG, the PAC, and two expert committees.
To ensure #public-safety, the following steps are crucial:
- Replace the current #CRS with someone credible to carry out the safety certification.
- Appoint independent experts to supervise load-deflection and other tests, ensuring the accuracy of bridge, tunnel, and high-cutting designs and construction.
- Make #public all the #CRS’s inspection reports and specially for the first two sections of the line – Banihal-Sangaldan-Reasi – to ensure #transparency and #accountability.
It’s time for the #RailwayMinister to intervene and prevent further harm to public and national interests on this “#NationalProject”. The safety of the Kashmir Railway Line cannot be compromised.
Courtesy: X