Times of India: Nagpur: Thursday,
March 13, 2014.
Is lack of
long-term planning proving costly for the Indian Railways? A query under RTI
shows that 52kg cement sleepers, having a life of 40 years, were replaced in
three years with 60kg under the 'garb' of modernization of tracks.
A query by a
retired railway official reveals that 52kg cement sleepers and subsequently
rails were laid in 1986 as per a policy decision. Life of these sleepers was
supposed to be 40 years. However, the sleepers were being replaced by 1989 with
heavier ones (60kg) leaving older ones useless. In Nagpur Division of Central
Railway alone 52kg mono block concrete (MBC) sleepers were laid under the
tracks by spending over Rs 20 crore (@ Rs 2,000 each).
Thousands of
these sleepers were scrapped in three years and those already laid were
withdrawn. They are still lying idle at road side stations like Wardha,
Sevagram, Amla and others. Railways, however, did not furnish the total cost of
60kg sleepers laid along with replacement of rails. It may amount to hundreds
of crores of rupees given the escalation. This is not the case of just one
division. Sleepers are being replaced across the country. Central Railway
senior divisional engineer (South) HL Kawre denied that the 52kg sleepers and
rails were outdated and had gone waste.
"We have
100% utilization for them. There are hundreds of such sleepers and rails being
used for secondary renewal in the division," Kawre said. He added Central
Railway had asked them to keep them safe for its distribution elsewhere.
"Many of these 52kg cement sleepers have already been used for sidings in
yards and railway looplines where there is not much load. We also plan to use
them for a 54-km defence siding at Pulgaon in future," Kawre said.
However, a
section of senior railway officials told TOI change of cement sleepers depends
on gross million tonne (GMT) of tracks, which constitute the basic
infrastructure of a railway system and bears the burden of coping with ever
increasing traffic.
"High
speed and heavy axle load operations necessitated upgradation of the track
structure from wooden, steel to MBC sleepers. Heavier section and high tensile
strength rails are being used and presently 60kg sleepers are being used on 90%
of the tracks," they informed.
The RTI
activist-officer, however, asks what was the necessity to replace the rails
within a period of three years (1986-89) only and waste crores of rupees. As if
this were not enough, it is learnt these 60kg sleepers will now be replaced by
65kg. Railway officials say there was no plan to replace 60kg sleepers except
on dedicated freight corridors (DFC).
Slippery
sleepers:
·
In
1986, railways installed 52kg sleepers across the country
·
Life
of these was supposed to be 40 years
·
In
1989, railways decided to replace 52kg sleepers with 60kg as part of
modernization
·
In
Nagpur division, Central Railway spent nearly Rs 20 crore on 52 kg sleepers
·
Thousands
of 52kg sleepers are lying at Sevagram, Wardha, Amla and other stations
·
Railways
say these are being used at yards, sidings, looplines and other places
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