Sparks fly in train and Rlys pass the buck

The sparks were noticed in S-4, S-5, S-6 and S-7 compartments before the train reached Bilaspur station. There the passengers were sent on their way with the assurance that the problem would be attended to at Raigarh.

But at Raigarh the hapless passengers found the station staff busy attending to political leaders and top railway officials who had gathered there to welcome the same train on its first stop at the station. When the passengers insisted that someone attend to the problem, the staff simply disconnected the power supply to the compartments and sent them onwards to Jharsuguda railway station. Apparently, after that they returned to attending to the VIPs and simply forgot the matter.

So when the train stopped at Jharsuguda, the railway staff there said they had not been informed by Raigarh and refused to help. What’s worse, the passengers discovered to their shock that the power supply had been restored to the compartments. Everyone was praying now.

And sure enough around 11.30 pm when the train was about to reach Dharuadihi — where there is no scheduled stop — all hell broke loose. The sparks had begun flying once again and there was a minor fire. The passengers began screaming in panic. Some people tried to pull the chain and realised to their horror that the train wasn’t stopping.

But this time help was near at hand. The passengers’ screams drew the attention of an alert assistant station master at Dharuadihi, who got the train stopped and reported the matter to Rourkela.

The relief train from Rourkela and Bondamunda, led by assistant area manager Sudarshan Sahu, assistant mechanical engineer (Power) N R Sahu and commercial inspector R R Mohanty reached the spot at about 1 am and ran into a hostile crowd. They were mobbed and stones were hurled at the relief train.

The team had a tough time pacifying the passengers who demanded an explanation from the Railways for their callousness. They extracted an undertaking that no other train would be allowed on the route till their complaint was redressed and their train reached Rourkela.

The train finally left Dharuadihi around 3 am and reached Rourkela at 4 am on Sunday, about nine hours behind schedule.

Senior railway officials admitted lack of coordination between Bilaspur and Chakradharpur railway divisions which, they said, led to the incident.