Mother Nature plays the spoiltsport

STANLY PINTO / TNN / Jun 16, 2004, 17:17 IST

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MANGALORE: Matsyagandha tragedy has once again proved that it takes more than engineering wisdom to rein in Mother Nature.

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MANGALORE: Wednesday''s Matsyagandha tragedy has once again proved that it takes more than conventional and unconventional engineering wisdom to rein in Mother Nature. This is the second time that an accident of such magnitude has taken place -- the first one being in June 2003 at Vaibhavadi, in which 51 lives were lost.Last year after the tragedy, Rajaram, managing director, KRC had said the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) will introduce modified Anti-Collision Devices (ACD) with electronic pendulums along the 200-km Konkan Railway route prone to land instability, to prevent future disasters. These ''electronic sensor pendulum'' in pipes were embedded in hillocks and sloppy areas thought to be instability prone -- between Udupi-Madgoan and Veer-Vaibhavwadi -- which would give indication of a landslide by ''error in alignment''. Dr K K Gokhle, director (operations), KRC, told The Times of India from Mumbai on Wednesday that even electronic pendulums could not have prevented Wednesday''s tragedy as the incident (boulders rolling over tracks) had occurred, as reports suggested, a few seconds before the train passed the spot. Dr Gokhle added the mishap had occurred at such a place, which was generally thought safe. Giving further details, Gokhle said the cutting was just eight feet high and was (considered) very safe. Due to incessant rains during couple of days, there must have been seepage in the soil which must have loosened the boulders situated atop and rolled them onto the tracks, he pointed out. He clarified that ACD was not installed on this train and even if it had one, this type of tragedy was inevitable. He said the locomotive driver, who incidentally is in a serious condition, would be best person to tell what exactly happened. KRC sources said it was disconcerting to note that structures which were thought to be stable by geologists and engineers were proving highly unstable. This type of natural disaster is unforeseen in conventional engineering wisdom and KRCL is evolving methods to counter the problem through unconventional methods -- like electronic pendulums being one. Others said that it is not that the cuttings are wrongly designed -- but it is a matter of exceptional combination of natural forces, like intensity of rainfall and natural earth variables over a period of time, that such weak spots reveal themselves. Out of 200 km of cuttings on the route, annually less than two to three kms show signs of distress and get repaired.</div> </div>

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