Mindful citizen averts a major train disaster

• Ignoring the pain in his leg, Krishna Poojary ran 3kms to give emergency information

Katapady: An alert and mindful citizen ran three kilometers in spite of having pain in his right leg and informed the railway authorities of the crack he had noticed on the railway track during his daily walk and thereby may have averted what could have been a major train disaster.

Krishna Poojary (53), a resident near Kunjipade Vishnumoorthi temple of Korangrapadi in the district is the alert and responsible citizen.

Mr Krishna suffers from a condition in his right leg since the last three months and was also suffering from pain in his waist. In order to normalize his condition, he used to take a walk near the railway track that passes near the Korangrapadi Brahmastana Nagabana. 

On Saturday, October 27, when Mr Krishna was on his usual stroll by the railway track, he noticed a crack in the railway track. At the same time, one train passed over the track and the crack got widened. Another train was supposed to arrive on the track within a short time.

Realizing the possible disaster lying in wait, Mr Krishna ignored the pain in his leg and waist and ran towards the nearest railway station near Indrali which is about 3 kms from the spot of the cracked track and informed the same to the railway authorities. The railway authorities swung into action immediately, based on the information given by Krishna and stopped two trains, one at Indrali and the other at Padubidri railway stations.

Later, a team of three railway engineers made Krishna to sit in the inspection trolley and visited the crack spot and undertook temporary repairs for about 40 minutes and then allowed the train to start their journey again.

Krishna Poojary is married to Kusuma and has two sons. He is employed as a daily wage labourer in a shop that makes Gobi Manchoori near Korangrapadi junction. Mr Krishna’s determination to ignore his physical pain and convey the vital emergency information to the concerned authorities in the nick of time has attracted much appreciation from everyone.