CR examines soil strength of new corridor to prevent mudslides

The Nerul-Belapur-Kharkopar railway corridor saw mudslide and following that one of its two routes was closed on September 4. Noticeably, the incident happened in the very first monsoon after it was inaugurated on November 11, last year.

Taking the matter into consideration, the Central Railway (CR) has now started examining the strength of the soil under the tracks to prevent similar incidents in future. Corrective measures will be taken, if required, to ensure that mudslide cannot disrupt services in the next monsoon, a senior official said.

The 12-km-long corridor is the first phase of the proposed Nerul-Uran railway line and was inaugurated last year. Total length of the entire line (up to Uran) will be 27km.

A senior officer of Central Railway said, “Before inaugurating the corridor, we had taken all steps so that there would be no issues in running trains during monsoon. But due to incessant rains, loose soil near Palm Beach Road gave in on September 4. We had to suspend services between Kharkopar and Belapur for the entire day.”

“A team of senior officials visited the site just after the incident. We divided the corridor into multiple sections. Each section is being examined by a team of engineers,” he said.

He said, “If these teams find any issue in their sections, they will report it to the seniors and requisite measures will be taken at that section as early as possible.”

CR has provided 20 trains on Kharkopar-Nerul line and 20 other trains on Kharkopar-Belapur line.

According to railway sources, discussions are going on to increase the number of trains in the corridor.

“We are setting up a power station near Seawoods station for supplying power to trains in this corridor. Once that station is ready, the number of trains will be increased. It may take us four to five more months to complete the power station,” said another senior official.

Bhakti Dave, president of Panvel Pravashi Sangh, said, “Regular checking of the tracks and examination of the soil are crucial for running trains.”

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