Muzaffarpur collapse: Railways admits 'lapse' in not monitoring flyover condition

Railways today said that failure to monitor the condition of the flyover, a portion of which collapsed on a goods train in the town, was a "lapse" on its part.

"Yes, there was lapse on the Railways' part in not strictly monitoring the condition of the flyover whose middle portion caved in and fell on a goods train," Chief Public Relation Officer, East Central Railway, Amitabh Prabhakar said.

The 40-year old flyover, near the Muzaffarpur railway station, in the town was built and maintained by the Railways.

After a PIL by an advocate Sudhir Ojha, the Patna High Court had in 2006 ordered replacement of the flyover by a new one.

However, the Railways only repaired the flyover four years ago.

The CPRO said that a detailed inquiry by experts would be made soon.

Meanwhile, Additional District Magistrate Dhananjay Thakur said that prima facie it appeared that the wheels of the goods train jumped the tracks and hit a pillar of the flyover leading to collapse of the middle portion.

The wheels of two wagons of the goods train could be seen off the track suggesting derailment, he said.

Muzaffarpur Railway station sources said that track repair work was going on near it for the past two days.