Darjeeling, Sept. 2 -- A portion of the tin loco shed of the World Heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) collapsed in Darjeeling on Wednesday morning, injuring six railway staff and a contractual employee. All seven joyrides were suspended as a result.

Local residents claimed that at around 8:50 am on Wednesday, with a loud thud, a portion of the tin shed of the loco shed, already in a dilapidated state, collapsed. At that time, there were seven employees who were conducting routine chores, including firing the steam engines and preparing for the joyrides. The tin shed collapsed on four steam locos that were in the shed.

The fire brigade also arrived. Along with railway staff, they cleared the debris. The injured were rushed to Darjeeling District Hospital. Most had head injuries and were in trauma. "Medical staff have confirmed that no serious or life-threatening injuries were sustained," stated a DHR release.

Noman Rai, MLA, Darjeeling, visited the ailing workers at the hospital, along with the railway station. "I will take up the matter with the Railway authorities. All costs of treatment of the injured, including the contractual worker, have to be borne by the Railway. In future, adequate arrangements for the safety of employees have to be given priority," stated Rai.

Incidentally, the DHR was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on December 5, 1999.

A Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) team led by Kirendra Narah, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Katihar Division, visited Darjeeling to take stock of the situation. "The steam engines are not damaged. It is an unfortunate incident. The structure is very old. Heavy rains coupled with garbage thrown from the settlement above, which had gathered on the tin roof along with rocks and debris from the hill, caused the collapse. We will repair the loco shed at the earliest. As it is a World Heritage structure, there are some formalities involved. We will also resume the services at the earliest," stated the DRM.

In June this year, heavy rains had triggered a landslide that had damaged the shed. "This is not the first of such incidents. In the past also, there have been injuries caused by parts of the dilapidated shed collapsing.

The staff have been complaining and demanding security measures. However, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

The Railways have to be serious about this," stated Binita Roka, spokesperson, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM)

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.