BENGALURU: An inquiry by South Western Railway into the major derailment of the Kannur-Yesvantpur Express in Bengaluru Railway Division, after boulders fell on the train on November 12 last year, has attributed the mishap to an act of nature. There has been no case of negligence by any department, it has established.
A three-member team comprising heads of departments of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Traffic recently submitted its findings.Five coaches of train 07390 derailed around 3.50am, after boulders came rolling down on to it due to heavy rain in the preceding days. None of the 2,348 passengers were injured in the mishap, that occurred at Dharmapuri, between Thoppur and Sivadi of Bengaluru-Salem section.
Chief Public Relations Officer, SWR, E Vijaya told TNIE, “An inquiry fixes primary and secondary responsibility for any incident. In this case, no primary responsibility was fixed on any one as investigations have revealed it was a natural phenomenon,” she said. “The accident was caused by falling of boulders which hit the train after the engine and four coaches passed. It was due to natural causes beyond the control of anyone, and so no Railway man was held primarily responsible.
Regular inspections at the spot earlier could not have prevented the occurrence of such an accident, she added. “There was no failure in the railway system,” she said. The secondary responsibility has been fixed on a few staff members for not maintaining catchwater drains in the area, Vijaya said. “They are not directly responsible for the accident. However, action would be taken against them for the lapses,” she added. The extent of financial loss caused to the Railways could not be provided by any anyone in SWR.