CHarumathy, 16 and 15 -year -old, Chezian, was usually sitting together in a school van. The morning of 8 July, as regular, brothers climbed into the van together, grabbed their bags and water bottles. His 55 -year -old father, Dravidimani, stood in front of his house in Chinnakattusagai village and waved him, his aunt, S Queen, says 42.
The bright yellow vehicle belonged to a private school where both of them had studied since Lower Kindergarten – S. Krishnaswamy Vidanikethan located in Kumarapuram.
A few minutes later, at 7:45 am, brother -in -law and two other children in the form of van – V. Nimlesh, 12, and V. Vishvesh, 16 – 16 – 16 – Semmankuppam tried to cross a garded level in the village, a passenger train fell into it. Charati and Nimlesh died on the spot, while by the time Chitli died, he entered the emergency and trauma care ward of Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, as long as he died. V. Vishwesh and Van Driver, S. Shankar, 47, was rushed to Kudundal General Hospital. Doctors say that their condition is stable.
Collision
The first few people to reach the spot to save the children and the van driver, 55 -year -old P. Annadurai was a resident of Semankupapam. He says that he heard Wales and ran away from his house. “I looked across the wall of my compound and looked at the Mangald remains of the van on the side of the track. The gate was open and I went out. When I tried to save the children, I came in contact with an overhead power cable and faced some burn injuries,” he says.
In Cuddalore Sipcot, an employee of a private company lives near the 50-year-old Rangan, Level Crossing Gate 170, a non-interlocked manned gate between Kudundal and Alappakam. He was getting ready for work when he used to hear a strong accident. Realizing that something was badly wrong, he went to cross the level and saw the Mangald van.
“The gate was open and the area was engulfed in smoke. I dialed the ambulance service and then went to the van. The van driver was deeply bleeding and I immediately moved him to my shoulders. There was a child inside the van. The body of a child was disintegrated. The other child’s body was lying near the tracks.
The residents rushed Shankar and Vishvesh to the Kudundal General Hospital in an ambulance. Vishwesh, a resident of Thondamantham, is put into an artist with an intravenous drip on a bed in the emergency ward and an artist on his left hand. “I was traveling in addition to the van driver with my brother Nimalesh and two other students,” he remembers. “The gate was open. There was no CT warning from the nearby train. There was no indication. The train hit our van because we were crossing the tracks. I was thrown out of the van. Everything happened in a flash.”
Vilupuram -Myiladuthurai passenger train hit the vehicle with such force that it dragged the van about 50 meters before stopping. By then, the van was reduced to a Mangli pile. Eyewitnesses say they saw the tracks and school bags, water bottles, and blood on the shoes, which were scattered around the area.
Gatekeeper job
According to eyewitnesses, the gatekeeper, Pankaj Sharma failed to close the gate When the train was passing. A village near Cuddalore Sipkot, a resident of Semankupapam R. Siwanwell says, “Another express train crossed the same gate about 20 minutes before the incident. The gate was still opened.”
He also says that the train did not give any warning and dropped the tracks down. Divisional Railway Manager, Ms. Anbalagan, told the media that the train was traveling at a speed of 95 km per hour.
Rangan says that the van driver, Shankar, had been operating the school van for about 15 years and had taken the same route many times. He says that more than 15 vans and buses belonging to various educational institutions in the surrounding area pass across this level daily.
The residents of the area also alleged that Sharma came out of his room only after reaching the accident site. They say that this is the reason why an angry mob insisted on him and molested him. Sharma has been suspended and arrested since then.
After normal route
Southern Railway officials say their initial inquiry revealed that the gate was closed when the van arrived. They say that the van driver insisted that he be allowed to cross the gate so that he could quickly lift more children and take them to school on time. “Sharma allowed him to pass, which he should not have done.”
A statement issued by the Chief Public Relations Officer of Southern Railway said that it had approved a fully funded underpass at the crossing gate of the accident level. However, it was alleged that the Kudloor Collector has not given permission for this in the previous year. Collector, Sibi Adhithya Senthil Kumar did not respond to the phone requests for a comment.
Another railway official says that the road leading to the level crossing was curved. They believe that roadside trees may have disrupted Shankar’s approach about the train. Trees are mostly outside the railway border. A day after the accident, workers were suppressed in service to clean trees.
The residents say that the driver of the school van took the normal route and tried to cross the tracks since the gate was opened. The van was fitted with speed governor and CCTV, but there was no attendant to ensure the safety of the students.
A school education department official says, “If a hostess was present, he could have taken down and could check both sides of the level crossing.” “There has been negligence from the school administration, and the department has given a notice to the school seeking an explanation.”
An old system
The level crossing in semmankuppam was a non-interlock gate. This means that the gate position, whether open or closed, is not automatically associated with the position of signals and points, which requires manual operation and vigilance. At least two gatekeepers have been posted there and they work in shifts.
A railway official says what happens when a train crosses non-interlock levels. “Generally, the station master in a non-interlocked section communicates a close train details for the gatekeeper, with a private number.
However, in non-acquired crossing gates, there is no mechanism for the station master to confirm the gatekeeper’s claim that the gate is closed, they say. “In this incident, they may have exchanged private numbers, but the gatekeeper may still fail to close the gate,” they say.
Across India, until October 2024, there were 11,053 manned -level crossing gates. Although all level crossings were to be upgraded to the interlocked gates in 2019, the Southern Railway still operates trains through 276 non-interlocked gates, mostly in Madurai and Thiruchi divisions. In Kadalore, on average about 40 trains cross the Semankappam level daily. “The Railways should accelerate the interlocking of Gates on a priority basis,” says an official.
Another officer talks about the shortcomings of this old system. “The non-interlocked system depends on oral communication. If the gatekeeper says that the gate is closed for road traffic, the station takes the master that cleans the train to run at the sectional speed. The gate, as long as the train passes, says.
There are other issues along with non-interlocking systems, and it is not necessary that the railway fault is. Officials say that sometimes, people attack the gatekeepers to delay the opening of the gate in a tear. “One such incident was reported in a Mundiyampakkam level crossing in Vilupuram district in 2008-09. A closed gate should not be opened at any cost. A train locomotive weighs about 100 tons. If the train derailed in Semankupapam, there may
Officials say the station master, gatekeeper, loco pilot, and train manager’s records and statements will highlight the sequence of incidents that cause tragedy.
A relative of the deceased student is sad outside the hospital of Kudundal district government. , Photo Credit: M. Samraj
Unbearable grief
Leaders of various political parties performed deaths. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced a compensation of 5 lakhs from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the families of the deceased children, ₹ 1 lakh each for seriously injured people, and ₹ 50,000 for those with minor injuries. Southern Railway announced a compensation of ₹ 5 lakh for the families of each of the deceased, ₹ 2.5 lakh for the families of those seriously injured people, and ₹ 50,000 for other injured persons.
Meanwhile, Dravidmani’s family is in shock, lost both her children. Rani says that a farmer, Dravidmani fought against all obstacles to ensure that his two children were educated in a private English medium school. The climax and Chajian shared a close bond. She says, “Even after coming back from school, they spent their time together. They rarely went out.”
She says that brothers and sowing were similar in many ways: they were studying, intelligent and ambitious. She says, “Charumathy finished first in class and won several medals in school. She wanted to get an MBBS degree. Chezyayan wanted to write the Civil Services Exam and to become an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer,” she says.
Rani said that the entire village is surprised by the tragedy and collectively pinchs the gatekeeper and the railway.
prasad.somasundaram@thehindu.co.in
S. with Vijay Kumar SK Input.
