Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007
ePaper
Online edition of India's National Newspaper Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007 ePaper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Andhra Pradesh |
|
News:
ePaper |
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
Advts: Retail Plus | Classifieds | Jobs |
Andhra Pradesh
Ghastly reminder: The site of the train tragedy that took the lives of 117 passengers of the Delta Fast Passenger two years ago at Valigonda in Nalgonda district. GOLNEPALLY (NALGONDA): It was 4.20 a.m. on October 29, 2005. Nine bogies of the Repalle-Secunderabad Delta Fast Passenger were drowned as the culvert it was passing through was washed away in the flash floods resulting in the death of 117 passengers. The Ramasamudram tank, situated on the outskirts of this village in Valigonda mandal, had developed a breach due to the incessant rain and the swirling water flooded the railway culvert. It led to the collapse of the culvert’s embankment for 120 meters leaving the rail tracks dangling seconds before the arrival of the ill-fated train. Many people including its driver met with watery grave in deep sleep while others could save themselves by hugging the thorny bushes and shrubs downstream. It is said to be one of the gravest accidents in the history of the Indian Railways. “I still remember the deafening sound the train made before taking a plunge into the water flowing under the culvert. Our villagers could save many passengers by rushing to the spot without wasting any time,” Cheruku Andal, a villager, recalled. Debt trapHowever, the tragedy changed the shape of the village economy. “Crop in more than 100 acres between the tank and the culvert was washed away. The tragedy pushed many small farmers into the debt trap. Some ryots turned out to be agricultural labourers,” village upa-sarpanch Miryala Anjaiah told The Hindu. The villagers are not at all happy with the ‘meager’ compensation given by the Government. “We were paid a paltry Rs. 350 per acre as compensation. We had to spend a minimum of Rs. 8,000 to bring back our lands to cultivable condition. Some of the boulders and sand carried by the flash floods destroyed the quality of the land,” he rues. The villagers further alleged that the officials didn’t pay adequate compensation for those who ‘sacrificed’ their lands to take up track repair works. “They dug earth from the agricultural fields to reconstruct the culvert on war-footing but the owners of the fields were left to their fate,” a village elder said. It seems the train tragedy still haunts the villagers. “The officials didn’t take up full-fledged works. Still we are in the grip of fear as we don’t know when the flash floods hit the delicate culvert and our tank bund,” a villager maintained.
Printer friendly
page
News:
ePaper |
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | The Hindu ePaper | Business Line | Business Line ePaper | Sportstar | Frontline | Publications | eBooks | Images | Home |
Copyright © 2007, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
