Rail communications between Dhaka and northern and south-western districts have remained suspended since yesterday morning as floodwater washed away soil beneath an approach to a rail bridge on Joydebpur-Bangabandhu Bridge route in Kalihati upazila of Tangail.

The snapping of rail link forced Bangladesh Railway to cancel plying of all trains to seven districts yesterday, causing sufferings to thousands of passengers.

According to a top railway official, the authorities suspended operations of Maitree Express (between Dhaka and Kolkata) and 10 intercity and one mail trains after the damage.

Talking to The Daily Star around 12:45pm yesterday, Amjad Hossain, director general of Bangladesh Railway, said they were hopeful that the train services will resume by tomorrow (today) morning.

Visiting the spot, Railway Minister Mazibul Hoque said full workforce along with proper resources have been deployed to restore the rail network.

The onrush of floodwaters washed away around 30-foot stretch beneath the southern approach to the rail bridge No 98 on the Pungli, a tributary of the Jamuna, leaving only some rails and wooden sleepers and creating a 20-foot-deep crater.

The spot is about 15km east of Bangabandhu Bridge. 

The incident occurred some time after Sundarban Express, a Dhaka-bound intercity train from Khulna, crossed the bridge around 5:00am, witnesses said.

Some fishermen were the first to notice it and they ran to locals who came to offer Fazr prayers at a local mosque.

The locals along with two night guards of a local market stopped Nilsagar Express right at the north end of the bridge around 5:45am by raising a red flag, saving the train from a fatal accident, they added.

The train, bound for Dhaka from Nilphamari, was carrying around 2,000 passengers, including a number of hajj pilgrims. They got on buses or hired cars to reach their destination by road.

Two other Dhaka-bound trains -- Ekata Express from Dinajpur and Rangpur Express -- stopped at Bangabandhu Bridge West Railway Station and Bangabandhu Bridge East Railway Station. Dhumketu Express, from Dhaka to Rajshahi, got stuck at Joydebpur Railway Station, official sources said.

A relief train from Joydebpur rushed to the spot around 10:00am and started the repair, said Ramjan Ali, chief engineer of Bangladesh Railway (West zone).

"Now we are dumping sand bags to check further damage and then we will carry out piling works for closing the channel with fencing," he said.

Asim Kumar Talukder, railway's divisional general manager (Pakshi zone), said the repair is being hampered due to strong currents.

"We hope we will be able to restore the rail link by tomorrow [today] morning temporarily, but it will take at least three days to complete the repair," he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Tangail Khan Mohammad Nurul Amin, Superintendent of Police Mahbub Alam and Shajahan Siraj, executive engineer of Water Development Board in Tangail, extended supports for the repair work.

REASONS

Abu Sayeed, a sub-assistant engineer of WDB in Tangail, blamed it mainly on flooding and unplanned sand lifting from the river Pungli.

"The diversion of water flow due to a nearby broken bailey bridge and an under-construction bridge under the Joydebpur-Elenga four-lane highway project near the rail bridge was another reason," he added.

Some influential people with political clouts have allegedly been lifting sand from the river illegally by using dredgers. Locals complained to the administration on several occasions. 

The railway authority filed a case against some people for lifting sand under the rail bridge last year and the key accused was arrested. The illegal activities resumed after he got bail, said Abdur Rashid, an assistant engineer of Bangladesh Railway (Joydebpur zone).

The Daily Star ran a story about it on August 16.

The DC, however, claimed that the local administration conducted mobile court drives and burnt dredgers on several occasions. Announcements through loud speakers were made to stop sand lifting from the river, he added.

Both the rail minister and the DC said they will investigate the matter.

SUFFERINGS OF PEOPLE

The train services to Rajshahi, Khulna, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Sirajganj and Chapainawabganj were cancelled yesterday, thus affecting passengers of more than a dozen districts connected to the network. 

Nurun Nahar, along with her elderly grandmother, came to Kamalapur Railway Station at 6:10am to catch Sundarbans Express to go to Khulna. At the station, they came to know about the cancellation.

When a correspondent of the newspaper talked to her at 2:20pm, she was waiting for her maternal uncle to take them back.

Rumi Khatun, who underwent a surgery at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, came to the station along with her mother around 2:00pm to go to Sirajganj.

“How will we go home now?” she said, baffled, after knowing the development.

Floods already damaged rail tracks at some points in northern region.

FLOOD SITUATION

Meanwhile, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) said all the rivers, except for the Padma, were showing a falling trend.

Its flood bulletin said the Jamuna and the Surma will show a falling trend in the next 72 hours, meaning the flood situation in northern and northeastern regions will continue to improve over the next three days.

However, the water level of the Ganges will continue to rise for two more days.

Low-lying areas of several districts including Manikganj, Munshiganj, Faridpur and Madaripur along the Padma in the central part of the country remained inundated.

Our Munshiganj correspondent reports that villages in Lauhajang upazila were submerged by knee to waist-deep water.

Furthermore, strong currents in the Padma have been hampering ferry services on the Paturia-Daulatdia route for the last seven days.

Hundreds of vehicles have been stuck in Paturia of Manikganj and Daulatdia of Rajbari -- the two ends of the main river route between the capital Dhaka and the south and south-western districts.

Of the 16 ferries available, four to five have to be repaired in the floating workshop at Paturia terminal, our correspondent reports, quoting Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) office sources.

Our Rajshahi correspondent reports, some 2,000 families of 15 char areas of Chawkrajapur union in Bagha upazila of Rajshahi have been marooned for the last one week as the Padma continued to swell yesterday worsening the flood situation.

Although the upazila administration distributed some relief on Saturday, most of the affected people were still struggling without receiving any help, said Azizul Azam, chairman of Chawkrajapur union.

[With inputs from Dhaka office]