The Government Railway Police (GRP), a wing of the state police, on Friday got in touch with forensic experts to learn about the metal of the overhead water tank that partially collapsed at Burdwan railway station and killed three people.
“We are writing to the state forensic science laboratory requesting them to conduct a test and give us a report about the condition of the metal structure. It will help us know if the tank should have been abandoned before the accident,” said a senior GRP official.
The GRP has started a case against unnamed railway officials following a complaint lodged by Abdul Mafiz Sheikh, husband of Mafiza Khatun Sheikh, 33, one of the three killed in Wednesday’s mishap, under section 304(A) (causing death due to negligence).
If anyone is found guilty under this section, he or she will be imprisoned for a term which may extend upto two years, or fined, or both.
Three people were killed and 34 more got injured after a portion of a metal overhead tank collapsed on a platform at Burdwan railway station on Wednesday. In his complaint, Sheikh directly accused the railways for negligence, especially lack of maintenance of the 133-year-old overhead tank.
A senior police officer in Calcutta said the forensic test is important as it will help the investigators establish if there was any negligence on the part of the railways.
First, the test will determine the age of the metal. As there is an average lifespan for every metal or alloy, it will establish whether the tank was in use beyond the lifespan of the metal.
Second, the test will also find out the capacity of the tank in terms of water it could hold. The negligence on the part of the railways can be established if it is proven that the tank had more water than the capacity of the metal structure.
Third, the test will also reveal the rate of erosion of the metal since its lifespan was over. The investigating agency will match it with the health-audit report conducted by the engineering department of the railways.
After the accident, the railways have been under attack from politicians of non-BJP parties and even ordinary people for alleged lapses in the maintenance of the tank that was built in 1890.
The pitch of the blame got shriller after it emerged that the health audit of the tank, conducted on December 3, 2022, did not find anything wrong in the structure.
An engineer working with the state’s public health engineering (PHE) department said such a century-old tank should be checked at least four times a year.
“The nature of the accident proves that one of the sides of the tank became weak and that’s why the tank’s capacity to bear the load of water got reduced over time,” the engineer said.
The tank had a capacity to hold 2.5 lakh liters of water. “The question is whether the tank had the capacity to hold this volume of water after 133 years of use,” said a source.
The railway authorities have also begun a separate investigation by a three-member committee to find out whether the accident was the result of negligence of its engineering department.
CPM protest
Around 500 CPM workers, including women, on Friday evening demonstrated in front of the century-old Burdwan railway station against the railway authorities, alleging the latter's lack of commitment to the cause of maintaining the historical structure. They also demanded a job for next of kin of those killed in the accident.
“The practice of negligence in maintaining old buildings and structures by the railways is nothing new.... A portion of the station building collapsed in 2020 and now a century-old water tank met with the same fate. We demand the railways assure us that the people of Burdwan will not have to witness any more such tragic incidents,” said Apurba Chatterjee, a CPM district secretariat member.
