Damage to the earth and ballasts beneath the railway tracks between Srivaikuntam and Nazareth railway stations in the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur section has been found to be extensive. The earthen bund has been washed away across a depth of over 20 feet. The damage was sutained during the torrential rains that lashed the southern T.N. districts last week.
Even as restoration work is ongoing, railway officials and workers are not able to reach the tracks in some parts of the affected areas despite the water level having receded over the past four days.
Engineers have now restored rail movement on a 16 km stretch between Tirunelveli and Seydunganallur railway stations. As materials meant for the restoration could not be moved by rail beyond Seydunganallur however, officials have opted to move them by road. “Since roads too, have been washed away at many spots, even these attempts are very challenging. We are now preparing to repair the roads to move the materials closer to the tracks,” said a senior railway engineer.
In some of the spots, officials and workers are not able to reach the tracks due to slushy soil for about 100 metres along the tracks.
Worst affected
Earth and ballast below the tracks have vanished for one km between Srivaikuntam and Nazareth. “At one particular stretch alone the earthen bund has been washed away for 400 metres,” the railway official saod.
In most parts of these affected areas, the entire bund that had been laid by the railways over the natural ground level has vanished. “The depth of the soil eroded is between 3 to 7 metres. The depth of the soil washed away at one particular spot is equivalent to the height of two floors of a building,” the official added.
Flood water that gushed for more than two days easily breached the bund over which the tracks were laid. The tracks themselves however, held together by the concrete sleepers, are intact, and dangling over the ground.
The engineers are in the process of dumping boulders to fill up the missing portions and then to re-lay the earthen bund before the ballasts are laid.
The damage was the least between Tirunelveli and Sedunganallur where the breach was restricted to about 150 metres.
Simultaneously, work to restore the signals and telecommunication lines and the overhead electric cables is also underway as many of the poles had fallen.
‘More damage now compared to 1992 floods’
Another railway engineer said that the present flood had caused more damage to railway assets than that of the 1992 flood. “Compared to the present flood, the 1992 floods caused only 60% of damage,” he said.
The main reason for the destruction was the breaching of several tanks in the region. “The flow of water in the Tamirabharani river was so heavy that it breached its banks near Srivaikuntam,” said the engineer.
Rail operations on Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur section have remained suspended since the night of December 17, owing to damaged tracks.
