1.5-m boulder caused Kasara derailment

A rolling stone may or may not gather any moss but a rolling boulder created a major mess on Central Railway CR on Thursday leaving one person dead and 15 others injured The boulder about 15 metres in circumference which had fallen on the tracks near Kasara was hit by a local train that derailed The Vidarbha Express then collided with some of the derailed bogies leading to the casualties Subsequently several trains were cancelled diverted or delayed on the KalyanKasara belt Harbinger of death The boulder which fell on the tracks near Kasara PicShrikant Khuperkar ldquoWe will soon be forming new guidelines on safe running of trains Railway minister Mukul Roy had also held a meeting on this issue soon after the Hampi Express mishap at Penukondardquo said KH Muniyappa minister of state for railways CR rocked Right from the minister to Chairman of Railway Board CRB Vinay Mittal and General Manager of CR Subodh Jain everyone claimed that the incident was the outcome of a natural disaster and not an instance of human error or technical failure However some highly placed sources in railways maintained that nature wasnrsquot the only thing to blame for this accident on the KasaraUmbermali section ldquoThere is a shortcoming in the maintenance of the stretch Knowing that this is the rainy season there was a need for employees to ensure that there was no loose soil or bouldersrdquo said a senior railway official on condition of anonymity According to witnesses at the site the boulder gave way and collapsed on the tracks on which the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus CST bound train that left Kasara at 916 pm was travelling This train bumped against the boulder around 930 pm ldquoAs soon as the train derailed the lights went out and people started streaming out mdash including Shakeela Kureshi 65 who was later killed during the collision ndash all panickedrdquo said Ashok Wagul a gangman who was present on the train Collision course According to railway officials soon motorman R Roy of the local train saw the incoming Vidarbha Express on the opposite track As per the rules he lit firecrackers to signal the possible danger But by then it was too late for A Khan the driver of the express train to make any alterations and the two trains collided The impact was such that 11 out of the 12 coaches of the local derailed and its front end was completely smashed Two bogies of the Vidarbha Express mdash S9 and S10 mdash climbed one over the other while the 120tonne engine got detached and then went off the rails By 950 pm locals had come to the rescue of the victims though they were literally fumbling in the dark ldquoIt was pitch black for at least an hour after the collision We stumbled upon those who had fallen off the trains and were finding it difficult to carry them as there were inclines on both sides The intermittent rain added to our woesrdquo said R Ghanghav a witness Initially rescue and repair work was carried out using torches that railway officials and rail police had brought along By the first light of the morning CR authorities had managed to separate the undamaged coaches of the local and express trains Around 7 am yesterday authorities brought in a 140tonne crane to lift and rerail the mangled bogies and the humongous 120tonne engine Traffic towards Kasara side had opened up around 820 pm Movement on the CST side is likely to be restored by today morning ldquoBy Saturday morning we expect to complete a majority of the workrdquo added Vinay Mittal Due to this accident suburban services to Kasara will remain suspended till 130 am on July 21 even as trains will run till Asangaon At least six longdistance trains were cancelled and several others were diverted via Pune Vasai and Kuruduwadi and short terminated Track record gtgt 200910 There were 15 accidents on CR that resulted in the death of 2 people while 18 others were seriously injured and 27 received minor injures gtgt 201011 Five accidents were reported in which 5 people were killed and 3 were seriously injured u00a0