Vigilant railway staff avert disaster as boulders found on tracks in Maharashtra
The station master alerted the loco pilot (driver) of 16352 UP Nagarcoil-Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) Express coming on the tracks.
A potentially catastrophic incident was narrowly avoided Friday when vigilant railway staff in Maharashtra's Pimpri-Chinchwad discovered several large boulders deliberately placed on the tracks. An alert guard on a Pune-bound suburban train running on the parallel tracks spotted the boulders and informed the Chinchwad station master.
"Guard Sandip Bhalerao on a Lonavala-Pune suburban train spotted the boulders on the adjacent UP tracks and informed the station master of Chinchwad," said a senior Railway official.
The station master passed on the information to the loco pilot of train number 16352 (Nagercoil - Mumbai CSMT Express), which was immediately stopped in time around Chinchwad, the official added.
Authorities are now investigating the incident to determine the motives behind this dangerous act.
Shedding more light on the incident, CPRO Central Railway Shivaji Manaspure said a team already patrolling the area spotted large boulders at five different locations on the tracks at a distance of 10-20 metres. He said the intention behind this act seems to be malicious, possibly perpetrated by some anti-social elements. The patrolling team acted swiftly and removed the boulders to avert any potential disaster, he added.
Manaspure said a thorough search of nearby areas is being conducted to gather any possible clues or evidence and identify the individuals responsible.
