The death of three persons following the collapse of a century-old metal overhead tank at the Burdwan railway station has raised questions about the absence of regular safety audits and the inspection of old structures as the health of the 133-year-old construction was not checked for at least a year.

A senior railway official said a detailed inspection to assess the health of the water tank had been conducted for the last time on December 3 last year.

“Today is December 13 and officials in charge of conducting health audit did not bother to revisit the British-era iron structure even after a year. The DRM and senior officials checked the inspection registrar during their visit to Burdwan today after the tragic accident and could not explain why any inspection was not planned yet,” said a senior railway official.

An engineer working with the state’s public health engineering department, which maintains hundreds of overhead tanks, said the century-old structures like metal water tanks should be revisited four times a year.

“The engineers should regularly check the thickness of the wall of the tank, especially in the case of metal tanks. If one of the walls becomes weak, there is always a chance of such accidents. The railways should maintain the pressure of the water stored in the tank. For older tanks, the filling of water should not touch the optimum capacity of the reservoir,” he added.

Local historians said the railway should form a special team for regular inspections of several constructions and buildings of the Burdwan railway station as it had
been set up in 1855, a year after the inception of Howrah station.

“Burdwan railway station is always neglected. This was proved when a part of the building collapsed in January 2020 and today’s mishap proved that again. The railway should form a special heritage committee to check the health of different structures and buildings of the 168-year-old railway station,” said Sarbajit Jash, a local historian.

Chief public relations officer of the Eastern Railway, Kausik Mitra, denied any negligence on the part of the railways. Many local residents recalled how the lack of maintenance caused another such accident at the Burdwan station in 2020 when a portion of the main building collapsed, resulting in the death of a passenger and injuring another person.

“In 2020, we found how the railways initiated the renovation of the 166-year-old building of the Burdwan station without conducting a proper health audit. It was also a case of not taking care of old buildings that are not only vulnerable but are also part of the heritage,” said Gourab Samaddar, a Congress leader and resident of Burdwan town.

CPM leaders said they would launch a movement, demanding a probe to find out how the railways gave a “fit certificate” to the iron tank that collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.

“After the incident in 2020, we demanded to check the health of buildings and other structures at Burdwan station. The railway should initiate a probe to find out those who gave fit certificates to continue the operation of such water tanks. The central government and railways are responsible for the deaths and injuries of common
railway commuters. The BJP government has making cosmetic changes to railway stations without bothering about infrastructure and passenger amenities,” said Apurba Chatterjee, a CPM’s district secretariat member.

BJP leaders also demanded a health audit of the old railway structures.

“I would like to request the Hon’ble Chairperson and CEO of Railway Board; Smt. Jaya Varma Sinha, to get a Safety Audit conducted of the various structures at Railway stations as early as possible to ensure the safety of the passengers,” leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari wrote in his X handle.

Adhikari also requested railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to adequately compensate the next of kin of those killed and injured in Wednesday’s incident.