 "Konkan Railway")
Days before his retirement 25 years ago, E Sreedharan, member-engineering, Railway Board, had planted the idea of a coastal railway in the mind of then railways minister George Fernandes. Sreedharan's proposal was unique in two ways.
It was based on the build-operate-and-transfer principle, a first for a government project in which two-thirds funding was required from external sources. Second, the 760-km track was to be laid through forests and mountains in the coastal states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
"It was such an enormous task that when we started the project, N Radhakrishnan (then financial commissioner, railways) said it would not be completed in 25 years. We did it in seven years," recalls Sreedharan, who is known more for his later work on the Delhi Metro. (A SNAPSHOT OF KONKAN RAILWAY)
Fernandes, who expressed his desire to build a Konkan railway and a Bagaha-Chittauni (Bihar) rail link on the first day of taking charge at the ministry, had to convince the then prime minister, V P Singh, and took it upon himself to iron out all bureaucratic hurdles. His efforts resulted in setting up of the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) as a public sector company on July 19, 1990, in a departure from the government's long-standing policy of operating the railways.
On October 15, 1990, the foundation stone was laid and Sreedharan became the first chairman and managing director of Konkan Railway on condition that he be allowed to handpick his team and work without interference of the ministry. The government gave Sreedharan a free hand and he began recruiting staff for the project. B R Kulkarni, who was working with Indian Railways, was one of his first recruits. Kulkarni was initially reluctant to come on board as he did not want to give up his quarters in Mumbai, but joined after Sreedharan managed to seek exemption from the railway ministry that Konkan Railway executives be allowed to retain their accommodation for two years.
Many senior engineers and other staff joined, but they comprised only 10 per cent of the workforce.
"We realised that out of 100 people, only 20-30 people actually perform. A conscious decision was taken to hire a small but relatively young team of fresh graduates," says Kulkarni. So much so that at the peak of construction work, Konkan Railway had a mere 2,400 people working for it.
For the workers, the next seven years proved to be daunting, exciting and created life-long memories. Many, including Sreedharan, survived near-death experiences, which came at the time of blasting of the mountains. More than 2,000 bridges and 92 tunnels were built. Still, 93 people lost their lives.
But the actual problem was at the financial end. The seed capital from the Union government and four state governments dried up and Konkan Railway was rendered penniless. There was no money for construction work.
"The matter became worse when Jaffer Sharief (railways minister in 1991-1995) refused to part with more money," says a senior executive in Konkan Railway. The option left to it was to raise money from the market, but the Harshad Mehta stock scam had everyone apprehensive about investing money in new instruments. The financial situation was so dire that while inaugurating the Mangalore-Udupi section in 1993, the then prime minister, P V Narasimha Rao, announced that "so long as KRCL doesn't ask for money, the government will extend every support."
Though the Union government didn't give a paisa, it lifted the restriction on raising money through tax-free bonds - a facility only available to housing, power and finance companies. KRCL raised around Rs 2,000 crore through tax-free bonds. It promised 9-10.5 per cent interest on the investment, which was to prove costly for KRCL in times to come.
This, however, provided a window for employees to directly interact with people of the region where the railway line would pass. Such interactions helped win support for the project among the masses.
"After work, we used to go and sell bonds to people. They were very enthusiastic about a railway line in their backyard and extended unconditional support. Such was the affection that our chief engineers used to be invited as chief guests at local functions," says R V Jadhav, a junior engineer hired fresh from college.
Jadhav's colleagues recall how the construction of Konkan Railway had become a personal mission for every staffer. "We would work 14-16 hours a day, spending days together in camps at the construction sites. The biggest advantage was we were all unmarried and used to love any task given to us. This allowed us to skill ourselves in many streams."
Kulkarni says the staff of contractors had become part of the team. "They would reach sites by 5 am on Sunday. This was never seen before in any government project. When funds dried up, the contractors worked without payment for nine months. We all had a joint mission."
All the executives laud the role of the people and the state governments in achieving the feat. More than 70 per cent of the people had given permission for KRCL to acquire their land without waiting for compensation under the Land Acquisition Act. "We had promised them they would be given their entire money before we ran our first train," Sreedharan said. Around 45,000 people were affected by the railway line in the four states.
Future
The line become operational in 1998 and was an immediate hit. It not only linked the Central Railway, the South Western Railway and the Southern Railway but also reduced travel time between Mumbai and Mangalore by 26 hours. Similarly, travel time between Mumbai and Cochin and Mumbai and Goa was cut short by 12 and 10 hours, respectively.
Sanjay Gupta, director of operations at KRCL, says demand for services is so high that Konkan Railway is planning to convert the single line to a double track. "We are unable to meet the demand for both passenger and freight trains. Doubling the track will increase our capacity." Konkan Railway has already identified stretches where tracks will be doubled and has submitted plans to the railway board for clearance.
KRCL will also start electrifying the track so that trains can run up to 161 km an hour. "This is the only track in India where trains can run at such speeds. I have a little regret that we could not spend on technology to prevent slope realignment and boulders falling on the track. We could not do much because of shortage of funds. People after me should have looked at it," Sreedharan says.
During the monsoon, trains slow down for fear of derailment and stones rolling down the mountains. In the past decade, 10 trains have derailed, killing 78 people. The last accident involved a goods train going off the track on October 7. This halted traffic for more than 30 hours. "We have taken many geo-safety measures and train accidents have reduced," Gupta says.
Besides safety, Konkan Railway has to mend its rising debt and provide facilities for passengers at platform and stations. The executive says if the Centre accepts new accounting norms, the Konkan Railway books will be marked all red. It has debt of Rs 1,266 crore, besides loans of Rs 3,222 crore from Indian Railways. "The loan from the railways has been converted into preferred equity with no interest payment for the next 15 years," discloses one executive.
Also Konkan Railway's profits have been continuously declining (see graphics). KRCL wants to finance its burgeoning debt through more roll-on, roll-off services where loaded trucks drive on and off the train and by venturing into other construction areas.
"The profit margin in roll-on roll-off is thrice that of ferrying passengers. But we are under pressure to run more passenger trains for political reasons," the executive adds.
The company is expecting to earn revenue from laying tracks and operating trains from Jaigarh port to Ukashi (near Ratnagiri in Maharashtra). KRCL is also working to develop lines for two NTPC plants. The company is also working on the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar railway line. "We will bid for more such projects. It is where our engineers' hearts lie."
