Despite heavy rain, CR, WR evade waterlogging on tracks

Mumbai: Despite incessant rain in the city this year, both Central and Western Railways managed to stay operational and did not face waterlogging on tracks, according to officials

Mumbai: Despite incessant rain in the city this year, both Central and Western Railways managed to stay operational and did not face waterlogging on tracks, according to officials.

Mumbai Monsoon Floods - Train gets submerged near a Station due to heavy rains on Tuesday, at Chunabhatti on Wednesday. (12.00pm). Thousands of people were stranded in their offices, railway stations, trains, buses and even schools following incessant rains. HT Photo by Vijayanand Gupta. 27/07/05

The railway officials credit this to taking preventive measures like special micro tunnelling, building culverts and desilting work before the monsoon. There were no instances of waterlogging on tracks and the railway lines also did not face any major disruptions, added officials.

“Compared to last year, the Central Railway had more water pumps across 19 flood-prone locations. We have removed almost 1.75 lakh cubic metres of muck along both the main and harbour line. Installation of flood gates at Masjid, Byculla, Matunga and Sion-Kurla areas and deploying staff for crowd control at the critical foot over bridge also helped,” said an officer from Central Railway.

A culvert augmentation at Masjid through micro tunnelling also helped keep the tracks from flooding. Moreover, the Western Railway also conducted a drone survey of 23 locations for monitoring, cleaning and identification of choke points in culverts and nullahs. Compared to last year a 14% rise in the number of pumps provided on the tracks and depots including sewerage and submersible pumps. “We also checked all the rakes and conducted the necessary monsoon precautions for its smooth functioning,” said an officer from the Western railway.

Meanwhile, the passenger associations claim that while there were hardly any instances of waterlogging, the monsoon also has not taken its full form yet. “This year the rains also have not poured continuously, it has taken a break and allowed the water to recede, this can also be one of the reasons for the flooding to not occur on tracks,” said Shashikumar Nair, chairman of Yatra Samiti.