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Colonial-era railway bridge on Chakki river collapses amid heavy rainfall
A nearly century-old colonial-era railway bridge on the Chakki river connecting Pathankot in Punjab with Kangra in Himachal Pradesh collapsed on Saturday due to heavy rainfall in the area A nearly century-old colonial-era railway bridge on the Chakki river connecting Pathankot in Punjab with Kangra in Himachal Pradesh collapsed on Saturday due to heavy rainfall in the area
A nearly century-old colonial-era railway bridge on the Chakki river connecting Pathankot in Punjab with Kangra in Himachal Pradesh collapsed on Saturday due to heavy rainfall in the area
A nearly century-old colonial-era railway bridge on the Chakki river connecting Pathankot in Punjab with Kangra in Himachal Pradesh collapsed on Saturday due to heavy rainfall in the area. It collapsed weeks after it was declared unsafe by the railway authorities.
A sizable portion of the bridge on the historic Pathankot-Jogindernagar rail route collapsed on Saturday morning due to the gushing flood water. “Upstream areas of the river witnessed cloudburst that caused repeated flash floods. It washed away the bridge as well as the wall of the army cantonment,” said Harbir Singh, deputy commissioner, Pathankot.
He said, “The bridge has remained unused for the last two months after being declared unsafe by the authorities. This bridge has been facing problems for the last seven-eight years. The operation of the train was suspended earlier as well during the rainy season to prevent any untoward incident. Before this season, it was indefinitely suspended as the authorities found it in a dilapidated condition”.
On August 2, the railway authorities declared the bridge near Pathankot unsafe and unfit for plying of trains on the track. A technical team from the Railway Division, Ferozepur (Punjab), inspecting the dilapidated condition of the Chakki bridge recommended suspension of train service on the narrow-gauge track indefinitely and suggested the reconstruction of the bridge. The team had even restricted the movement of human beings on the bridge track after closing it with fencing of barbed wire.
The operation of the train was suspended in the first week of July keeping in view the monsoon rains and the threat of triggering landslides on the railway track.
Pertinently, illegal mining near this bridge for the past over three decades is said to have weakened the supporting pillars and protection wall of the bridge.
On August 12, 2019, the then Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa had written to then Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh urging him to take strict action against illegal mining in Pathankot district. Bajwa stated in his letter that rampant illegal mining had created ravines in the Chakki river and poses threat to the bridge.
However, the Pathankot DC ruled out the particular reason behind the collapse.
Indefinite suspension of the train and collapse of the Chakki bridge is bad news for thousands of daily passengers who have been left in the lurch. It was an economical means of transportation for them. It was a big facility for small traders of both states. Patients usually preferred to board this train to Pathankot hospitals for treatment. The reconstruction of this bridge is uncertain. If it is reconstructed, it will take a few years.
The railway department had spent lakhs of rupees on the repair of the damaged pillars and protection walls several times during the past decade but failed to chalk out any plan to reconstruct this bridge that had outlived its utility.
