The Central Railway, which ferries nearly 35 lakh commuters a day in Mumbai, has identified 24 locations that can potentially become waterlogged during monsoon and has taken corrective steps to ensure the smooth operation of trains, officials said on Tuesday.
As per a press release by CR, it plans to instal 166 pumps, including 120 heavy-duty ones, to suck out water from rail tracks on its network in the megapolis and its suburbs. “This year the capacity of pumps and number of pumps have been increased at flood-prone locations to avoid flooding,” the release stated.
CR operates more than 1,700 suburban services a day and commuters face a harrowing time if local trains stop on tracks due to waterlogging during monsoon. It said CR’s general manager Naresh Lalwani reviewed pre-monsoon works to ensure smooth and disruption-free suburban services during the rainy months in Mumbai.
Apart from making arrangements for pumps, the CR has taken up works like removal of muck, cleaning of culverts and drains, trimming trees, boulder netting and stabilisation of bank, it said.
The Central Railway said it has already completed the desilting and cleaning of 102.39 km of its drains with a collective length of 118.48 km on its suburban section. While 88 culverts have been cleaned, the cleaning of 17 more is in progress, it said.
“CR Control office, working round the clock, will keep close liaison with Meteorological Department, Disaster Management cell and staff deputed at flood-prone areas for continuous monitoring and constant updates,” the release said. CR officials claimed that during the last monsoon, their services did not come to a halt despite heavy rain and water logging in tracks.
As per the release, the flood-prone locations identified on the main line (CSTM to Kasara / Khopoli) are Masjid, Mazgaon yard, Byculla, Chinchpokli, Currey Road, Parel, Dadar, Matunga, Sion, Kurla, Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg, Bhandup, and Mulund, while on Harbour line (CSMT-Goregaon/ Panvel) the areas are Sewri, Vadala, Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, Chunabhatti, and Tilak Nagar.
