Konkan Railway back on track

Trouble has temporarily abated for passengers travelling on the Konkan Railway, as the mudslides were cleared and retaining walls rebuilt at Pomendi Cutting, between Ratnagiri and Nivsar.

Trouble has temporarily abated for passengers travelling on the Konkan Railway, as the mudslides were cleared and retaining walls rebuilt at Pomendi Cutting, between Ratnagiri and Nivsar.

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The mudslides were cleared at 8:30 on June 19 — two days after long-distance trains running on Ratnagiri-Nivsar stretch were brought to a standstill after a 20-metre retaining wall collapsed at Pomendi on June 17, causing a mudslide.

Several trains from Mumbai had been cancelled, many were diverted and in some cases, passengers were transferred to state transport buses mid-way, due to the wall collapse and the resulting mudslide.

“We hired about 50 buses to transship stranded passengers between Ratnagiri and Nivsar in 350 trips,” said Siddeshwar Telugu, chief PRO, Konkan Railway.

About 18,000 passengers were transshipped, and snacks, drinking water and portage facilities were provided to
them.

Engineers and workers waited for the torrential rains to stop, before commencing the repair work and removal of muck from the tracks.

As a precautionary measure, a speed limit of 20 kilometre per hour has been imposed on this stretch for the rest of the monsoon.

In addition, the Konkan Railway will ensure that constant maintenance work is undertaken at vulnerable spots, during the monsoon.

Vulnerable areas include Adavali, Nivsar and Ratnagiri.