Good news for Indian Railways, bad for road users in Mumbai; here is why

Rail tracks will be prioritised over roads when it comes to saving them from getting drowned, the authorities have collectively decided. So in case of flooded streets and submerged tracks, the government machinery will focus on clearing the tracks first. Each year, suburban railway is crippled for at least four days during monsoon.

DK Sharma, Central Railway’s General Manager, said on Tuesday that this time the rail lines will be the focus of government agencies. Both Western and Central Railways have augmented the number of pumps kept along the tracks. WR will keep 74 between Churchgate and Virar, up from 59 last year, while CR will instal 60 between Kalyan and CSMT, where it had 43 in 2017.

“There will be 21 high-powered ones,” said a WR official. “We have also removed nearly 95 per cent of muck and garbage from culverts and drains crisscrossing the rail lines.”

So far, WR has removed nearly 86,000 cubic metre of silt while CR cleared around 80,000 cubic metre. It has been deposited at the dumping ground. The work is still underway.

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The two railways have also raised the height of tracks at key waterlogging spots, including on harbour line. They are going to take a last-minute call on whether to curtail the number of services if it rains above 50mm.

The railways and IMD have decided to instal weather radars on rail land to anticipate heavy rain and evacuate stranded commuters in time. This would also keep the rakes from getting marooned on flooded tracks.

By Shashank Rao, DNA India