Central Railway Identifies Flood-Prone Locations Ahead Of Monsoon; Here’s How It Plans To Ensure Passenger Safety

Mumbai: The Central Railway has identified twenty-four potential flood-prone locations ahead of the monsoon season in the country. The Central Railway pushed a plan on Friday under which it will take measures like providing pumps to ensure the safety and smooth operation of the trains during the rainy season in India. Under the plan, a total of 161 pumps will be provided by the railway in the vulnerable locations, the report said.

List Of Flood-Prone Areas

The central railway, in a press release, issued a list of the vulnerable locations. According to the Central Railway, Masjid, Mazgaon yard, Byculla, Chinchpokli, Currey Road, Parel, Dadar, Matunga, Sion, Kurla, Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg, Bhandup, and Mulund are some of the most flood-prone locations on the main line.

Sewri, Wadala, Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, Chunabhatti, and Tilak Nagar stations on the Harbour Line are also unsafe.

Security Measures Taken By Central Railway

Officials informed that the Railway will provide 161 pumps and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will deploy 31 pumps to ensure the safe commute of the passengers. This year, the capacity of pumps has been increased from 12.5 HP to 100 HP, he said.

Further informing about the security measures taken by the Central Railway, the press release stated that Micro-tunneling work is in progress at three locations at Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg, Kanjurmarg and Sion, and 92 culverts on the suburban network have been cleaned. The work of cutting and trimming 156 trees has been completed.

The Central Railway will keep close liaison with the meteorological department, disaster management cell and staff deputed at the flood-prone areas for continuous monitoring and constant updates, the release said. The CR has also targeted de-silting and cleaning 119.82 km of drains on the suburban network, it stated.

Railways Suspends Drivers, Assistants For Overspeeding

The drivers of Gatiman Express and Malwa Express along with their assistants have been suspended for running their trains at 120 kmph in a section where the cautionary speed limit was restricted at 20 kmph.

The incident took place recently in which the trains’ crews violated the precautionary speed limit in the same section, ie, between Jajau and Mania railway station near Agra Cantt, where a temporary speed restriction has been imposed due to an ongoing renovation work of a railway bridge.

Prashati Srivastava, PRO, Agra Division, confirmed the incident and said “disciplinary action has been taken against all concerned staff”.

“In the first incident, the loco pilot and assistant loco pilot of the Gatiman Express, India’s first semi-high speed train which runs at 160 kmph speed between Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi and Virangana Lakshmibai Jhansi Junction in Uttar Pradesh, violated the advisory speed restriction after the train left Agra Cantt for Gwalior,” said a railways source.

(With inputs from PTI)