PANJIM: The Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) is geared up for monsoon by completing all safety works on its route from Kolad (after Roha station of Central Railway) to Thokur (before Mangalore station).
“This year, as the fight against the second wave of COVID-19 strengthens, the Konkan Railway continues to be fully committed to the welfare of its passengers. All efforts are being made to maintain track and passenger amenities ensuring all safety related guidelines and COVID-19 protocols,” said KRC Deputy General Manager (PER) Girish Karandikar.
“Since Konkan region is known to receive heavy rainfall during the monsoon and Konkan Railway running through this region comprising of a 740-km-long route, the KR has geared up for the onset of monsoon in Konkan region. All planned safety works on this route from Kolad to Thokur have been completed. Special attention has been given to catch water drain cleaning and inspection of cuttings. The large-scale geo-safety works executed along the railway line in last few years have significantly reduced the incidences of boulder fall and soil slip, thus ensuring safe running of trains. No major disruption to train services has occurred on account of boulder fall during monsoon in the last eight years,” Karandikar informed.
“Konkan Railway will conduct monsoon patrolling as per the prescribed guidelines to ensure safe running of trains. About 681 personnel will patrol the KR route during the monsoon and vulnerable locations will be patrolled round-the-clock and watchmen will be deployed for 24 hours at critical locations. Speed restrictions will be imposed at vulnerable locations. BRN mounted excavators have been kept ready at nominated points for quick movement in case of any emergency,” he said.
Instructions have also been issued to loco pilots to run the trains at a reduced speed of 40-km per hour in case of heavy rainfall when visibility is limited. Self-propelled ARMVs (Accident Relief Medical Vans), with provision of Operation Theatre and emergency medical aid are kept ready at Ratnagiri and Verna (Goa). The ART (Accident Relief Train) is also kept ready at Verna.
“Mobile phones have been provided to all safety category staff to contact the control office/station in an emergency. Both loco pilots and guards of trains have been provided with walkie-talkie sets as well as every station on Konkan Railway is equipped with a 25 Watt VHF base station. This enables wireless communication between the train crew as well as train crew and station master. All main signal aspects on KR are now replaced with LEDs for improving signal visibility,” he said.
Self-recording rain gauges have been installed at nine stations viz. Mangaon, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Vilwade, Kanakavali, Margao, Karwar, Bhatkal and Udupi which will record the rainfall in the region and alert officials in case of increased rainfall. Flood warning systems for bridges have been provided at Kali River (between Mangaon and Veer), Savitri River (between Veer and Sape Wamane) and Vashishti River (between Chiplun and Kamathe) and will alert officials in case of flash flood in the river when water flow reaches above danger Level. Anemometers have been installed at Panval viaduct (between Ratnagiri and Nivasar), Mandovi Bridge (between Tivim and Karmali), Zuari Bridge (Karmali and Verna) and Sharavati Bridge (between Honnavar and Manki) to monitor the wind velocity.
Control rooms at Belapur, Ratnagiri and Margao will work 24×7 during monsoon period for ensuring safe running of trains. Monsoon time-table will come into effect from June 10 up to October 31. Passengers may check train status online during monsoon by visiting www.konkanrailway.com or using KRCL App by downloading from Google Play Store or by dialling 139.
According to Karandikar, during the recent Cyclone Tauktae that majorly hit the Konkan coast, the services over Konkan Railway functioned smoothly with no major disruptions despite strong winds and heavy rains.
