Mumbai: Dredger vessel hits railway bridge, damages it

The iron pipes sunk after the dredger vessel carrying them hit the bridge. Pic/Hanif Patel

An illegally transported dredger vessel, which was being pulled by high speed boats beneath Naigaon railway bridge on Vasai creek on Friday night, hit one of its girders between two pillars, damaging it. While a local claimed the bridge was severely damaged, the Western Railway spokesperson said only plaster fell off it.

The Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, Sumeet Thakur said, "One needs to take permission to pass under any bridge of the Indian Railways. The dredger was being illegally led under bridge number 75 on Friday night. They had not sought permission for it. Our officials have visited the site after the incident, and said the plaster of the bridge fell off. There is no hindrance in the traffic on Western Railway."

What happened
The incident occurred on the night of Friday and early Saturday, said a resident of Panju island Praveen Mhatre. Mhatre said, "There are several dredging companies in Ghodbundar where the base of the vessel is prepared and it is later pulled by at least half a dozen high speed boats to different locations like Bhaucha Dhakka to fit into engines."

"One needs to take permission to pass a dredger under the bridge, these dredging companies often do so at night as there is no bridge guard present at the chowkie nor are Customs officials vigilant," said Mhatre.

"It was high tide when the incident took place and the dredging vessel got stuck and damaged the bridge at multiple locations. An over 1.5-ft patch of cement fell off the bridge and iron rods are exposed. They were carrying extremely heavy iron pipes with almost 3-metre diameter on the dredger which hit the girder between pillar number 46C and 46D of Naigaon bridge connecting Palghar to Mumbai. Had they not purposely sunk the pipes, the bridge could have been badly damaged, affecting services on Western Railway," Mhatre added.

Senior government officials including engineers and structural auditors visited the spot after the incident. Thakur said, "We have registered an FIR under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Indian Railways Act against unknown person(s) at Manikpur police station."

The in-charge of Manikpur police station Inspector Bhausaheb Ahire said, "The name of the dredger is Aryan. The pipes were sunk the creek after it could not pass under the Naigaon railway bridge. The length of the dredger is not less than 100-metres. It belongs to one Vasai-based Pir Khan's company, Bluefin Marine, which provides dredging and related marine services."

"Our bridge guard from the chowkie alerted us after the incident and the FIR has been registered on the complaint of a railway official. We have learnt that the dredger was being taken from Ghodbundar to Lakshadweep. Our investigations are underway," Ahire added.

"We have arrested two tug boat drivers including Shiv Charan Mahato (36) and Tulsi Mahato, 42, in connection with the incident," said investigating officer API Sachin Sanap.

The DCP Sanjay Kumar Patil said told mid day that the prime accused Dildar Pirkhan, owner of Bluefin Marine, is absconding.