The heavy rain that fell on June
11, 2017 has cut off the rail line that links the Northern and Southern part of
Nigeria at Ndafun in Niger State.
The downpour, which also led to
the destruction of farmlands, houses and fruit-trees and vehicles, reportedly
damaged 300 meters of rail tracks, thus halting the North-South locomotive
service.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation,
NRC, said the damaged has cost it a weekly N50m income and would require at
least two weeks to get the wrecked section of the line repaired.
The corporation has as a result
of the damage, suspended passengers and freight train services between Mokwa
and Jebba.
The corporation, however, said
train services between Lagos and Jebba, as well as Kano to Mokwa are not
affected by the suspension, noting that the temporary bridge would be put in
place at Ndafor pending the construction of a permanent bridge in the nearest
future.
Managing Director of NRC, Fidet
Okhiria, who explained the damage, pointed out that the rail damage could also
have been caused by an avalanche of water released from Kanji Dam.
The MD, who spoke to newsmen over
that weekend at the corporation’s headquarters, said apart from the washout of
rail tracks on ground, the rain, also affected a railway bridge at Ndafor,
which links Mokwa and Jebba.
Speaking further on the incident,
he said officials as well as materials such as lump stones, laterite and gabion
crates have been mobilised to site, adding that a temporary bridge will be
launched within the next two weeks to ensure that trains linking Mokwa and
Jebba commence operations.
Okhiria assured that lump stones
would be used to fill the void before pouring laterite so as to reinforce the
ground before laying the tracks.
He noted that washout is a
natural occurrence that is peculiar to the rainy season, noting that between
the months of May and September which fall within the rainy season, experienced
track men from the civil engineering department are usually deployed to conduct
regular inspection of tracks so as to identify faulty tracks and repair same to
forestall any accident.
It wasn't actually a the handwork of nature, rather it's God's handwriting on the wall. The south and north can not stay together again... Please divide the country
ReplyDelete