In the wake of the Mahad tragedy, questions are being raised about the Vaitarna railway bridge which is the only connecting route to reach Indore, Ahmedabad, New Delhi and other north Indian cities.
Locals alleged that while sand mining had been banned by the collector of Palghar, illegal excavation was rampant through suction pumps in the Vaitarna river and as a result, the foundation of the Vaitarna bridge was in danger. “Even though the WR has banned sand mining within a 500m periphery of the bridge, illegal mining is still going on. Mining is done at night and the revenue department is silent on this illegal activity. Massive dredging of black sand is carried out where excavators blindly dig the river bed for sand,” said Mangesh Karale, activist and Virar resident. A truckload of sand, containing 200 sq ft of sand costs anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000.
“The illegal excavation is done at midnight using suction pumps in the river, which is banned by the revenue department. But the sand mafia ignore warnings and freely use suction pumps to excavate sand. The mafia is spread across Vaitarna, Narangi and other points along the river,” said a social activist from Vasai, Zakeer Meshtri.
On August 1, 2011, around 6.30am, nearly 25 feet of the bridge was washed away by soil erosion, and an alert motorman of a Dahanu local noticed the bridge in bad shape and alerted the Vaitarna railway station and traffic was stopped for five hours until the bridge was repaired.
“The Vaitarna bridge was constructed decades ago during the British rule and is the only connecting bridge for Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and North Indian cities, as premium trains like Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, August Kranti Express, Duronto Express and other express trains pass along the bridge,” said Mr Karale.
Mr Karale said that while express trains ran at around 80 to 90 km per hour, beyond Virar, they could reach speeds up to 100 km per hour. However, while passing over the bridge, the train speed is usually around 50 to 60 km per hour depending on traffic control orders. There is also the danger of small boats colliding with the pillars of the bridge, which is a major threat,” added Mr Karale.
