Under-construction site at Pragati Maidan caves in, delays trains

Officials of the Public Works Department , said that the incident is not of major concern and such incidents are common at locations where the soil is loose.

A portion of land at the construction site of a tunnel beneath Pragati Maidan, near the railway tracks, caved in on Tuesday night. The incident, reported around 10.15pm, held up the movement of trains on the stretch.

Chief public relation officer said, it was not a major incident, there was no major delay in train operations. (Mohd Zakir/HT Photo)

At the time of the incident, Taj Express, which was about to pass through, was stopped immediately and halted for over an hour.

Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), however, said that the incident is not of major concern and such incidents are common at locations where the soil is loose.

“There are seven railway tracks — two going to Ghaziabad and five towards Nizamuddin — that pass through Pragati Maidan. Around 10.15pm, a portion of land caved in when boxes were being pushed near the railway lines. The soil was loose in nature, so, it collapsed. We immediately took remedial measures and filling was done,” a senior PWD official, who wished not to be named, said.

Chief public relation officer (CPRO), Northern Railways, Deepak Kumar, said, “It was not a major incident. There was no major delay in train operations. The operations have been started but, with a speed caution of 20kmph on the stretch where the incident took place.”