A lifeline takes a troubling turn Premium

On Oct. 29, the train he was on collided with another, killing 14 and injuring 38. The cause is unknown, but the accident has raised questions about railway safety

Pilla Kalavati, 30, wakes up at 5 a.m., just as she always has, but there’s been an overwhelming void in her life over the past couple of weeks. For years, her early mornings were dedicated to preparing breakfast and a warm lunchbox for her husband, Pilla Nagaraju, 40, before he left for work. Now, at the crack of dawn, the kitchen lies cold as she and the couple’s 10-year-old son grapple with the harsh reality of his sudden demise in the October 29 train accident in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district that claimed 14 lives and left several injured.

For years before the accident, Nagaraju, a resident of Kapusambham village in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, used to embark on a daily struggle that defined his life. Leaving home around 6.45 a.m., he would take an autorickshaw to reach the Garividi railway station, 10 kilometres away, to board the Palasa-Visakhapatnam passenger train no. 58531 at 7.41 a.m. The clang of steel, drone of machinery, and dusty precincts of a construction site in Visakhapatnam awaited him. He chose to make the arduous two-and-a-half-hour journey daily, as moving to the city along with his family was an expensive proposition.

Kalavati’s voice trembles with grief as she reflects on their circumstances: “Our village had no employment opportunities. That is why he took up a daily-wage job in Visakhapatnam.”

On the return journey, he would take the same train, the Visakhapatnam-Palasa train no. 58532 at 5.45 p.m. and reach Garividi at 7.33 p.m. By the time he got home, it would be 9 p.m. His daily grind deprived him of the simple joys of a relaxed conversation with his wife and child after a hectic day.

This had been Nagaraju’s routine for the past 10 years, but on the evening of October 29, everything changed. It was way past 9 p.m. and he had not returned home. Around 9.30 p.m., a fellow villager delivered the devastating news that Nagaraju’s train had met with a major accident.

It took three hours for Kalavati to reach the accident site, along with some friends and neighbours, as she navigated her way using the torch light on her mobile phone.

Amid the wreckage, she found Nagaraju’s mangled body, identifiable by the shirt he had worn that morning. The breadwinner of the family was lying lifeless near the train that had been his lifeline for almost a decade.