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Goa: 12 trains cancelled, many diverted as Pernem tunnel leaks again
Railway officials said that water began oozing out of the roof of the Pernem tunnel at around 2:30pm on Tuesday, and while the track was briefly restored late on Tuesday evening, the oozing restarted later in the night at around 3am, prompting closure for a second time
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Panaji: Operations along the Konkan Railway route remained affected for the second day in a row after water began leaking through the roof of the tunnel located between the Pernem railway station in north Goa and Madure station in south Maharashtra, causing water logging on the tracks.
According to the Konkan Railways’ Wednesday bulletin, 12 trains, including the Mumbai-Goa and Vande Bharat Express, were cancelled, while more than two dozen trains that use the Konkan railway route were diverted.
The cancelled trains include the Mumbai - Goa Vande Bharat Express, the Mumbai- Goa Janshatabdi Express, the Mandovi Express and the Mumbai Mangaluru Express, which were scheduled for Wednesday.
Wednesday’s Mandovi Express and the Janshatabdi Express from Margao to Mumbai were also cancelled, along with the Margao- Mumbai Tejas Express and two passenger trains.
Railway officials said that water began oozing out of the roof of the Pernem tunnel at around 2:30pm on Tuesday, and while the track was briefly restored late on Tuesday evening, the oozing restarted later in the night at around 3am, prompting closure for a second time.
The Pernem tunnel, one of five soft soil tunnels along the Konkan railway route, has been one of constant trouble for the Konkan railway right from the day work began in 1992. The 1.5 km long tunnel faced endless delays and work that began in 1992 was completed only in 1998 and resulted in the loss of nine lives during the construction phase, the highest among the worker deaths along the route.
“More than 100 workers have been deployed along with 25 supervisors. Our chief engineer too is on site. Besides our consultants as well as an international consultant will be arriving on site. We are on the job and hope to finish and reopen the track by 8pm this evening,” Santosh Kumar Jha, chief managing director of Konkan Railway, said.
This is not the first time that trouble at the Pernem tunnel has affected the entire Konkan railway route.
In August 2020, a five-metre section of the tunnel collapsed and paralysed the entire route for a period of 40 days. The section of the tunnel was reinforced with mild steel plates and heavy webs back then.
The Pernem tunnel delayed the opening of the Konkan Railway route by a further five months as it collapsed three months ahead of opening pushing the reopening date.
The tunnel makes its way through the lateritic plateau that is contiguous with the Barazan plateau upon which the new Mopa Airport is built.
Engineers faced a daunting task during the construction of the tunnel as the soft soil kept giving way and, in many places, resembled “toothpaste”. Engineers working on the project described the Pernem tunnel as being a new challenge every day as the soil “altered between soft schist rock, slanting rock, hard laterite and soft clay” accompanied by constant water seepage.
The porous laterite rock that makes up much of the hills in the Goa and Konkan region of Maharashtra and Karnataka is a nightmare for engineers but serves as an excellent aquifer retaining water for the dry months.
