Until last year, a decades-old railway overbridge in the city was the only “stumbling block” before the completion of the Shoranur-Mangalore railway electrification project.
After several controversies and indefinite delay in getting sanction from the Railway Safety Commissioner for the work, the bridge was lifted about 78 cm up and opened for traffic on June 25 last year.
A dramatic objection came from the Railway Safety Commissioner after the lifting was done. The height, according to him, was not enough yet to facilitate the electrification work. He insisted that the bridge required being lifted further up by 70 cm if the technical and safety parameters were to be met. And that led to a fresh controversy and further delay in the electrification project.
Sources in the Railway Electrification Division, however, maintained that it was risky to elevate the bridge further considering the present condition of the old structure. In the meanwhile, the city’s trolley pullers and traders, who use the bridge on a daily basis, raised concern over further lifting of the bridge as it would adversely affect the goods movement.
As per the old standards, overbridges should be in a height of 5.2 m from the railway line. However, the new safety standards require them to be in a height of 6.5 m from the line. “Since it was an old bridge, we limited the height to the old standards when it was lifted,” said a senior official from the electrification wing. This was opposed by the safety commissioner saying that the structure would be considered new once it was moved from the old position and hence it should keep the new height and meet the new safety standards.
In the meanwhile, the electrification works got delayed indefinitely even as various rail users’ forums protested against the “casual and callous ways” in which the authorities took decisions on important technical matters. “One wondered how casually the railway authorities took important technical decisions even without proper consultations among them,” said C.E. Chakkunni, working chairman of the Confederation of All India Rail Users Association.
