Will Konkan Rail derail? Regional railway manager says services may be stopped for 8 months if tracks aren't repaired in the next few days
By: Yogita Rao http://www.mid-day.com/midday/scripts/epaper/transferpage.aspx?queryed=24 Konkan Railway could shut down for the next eight months if a 100-metre stretch near Ratnagiri is not repaired in the next few days. The land near Nevsar station, along with the tracks, sunk by almost three feet after this week's rains. After last year's floods, railway officers noticed that the land near the station had sunk, technically termed as settling of land. The railway tracks were also sinking as a result of this. The problem was then rectified by adding three levels of tiles, 20 metres deep, on that stretch. With the torrential rains this week, the problem resurfaced. Arun Tupe, regional railway manager, Nevsar, said, "We have been trying to fix the problem since last year. If we can't fix it in the next few days, it might affect services for more than eight months." According to Tupe, the land near the station has already gone down by up to three feet and is sinking further. The motormen have been asked to ply at a speed of 10-kmph instead of the usual 75-kmph. Around 25 trains ply on this railway line every day, carrying 1.25 lakh passengers to Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. "We are trying to solve the problem and will do our best to avoid shutting the line," said Tupe. However, he has not denied the possibility of the line being shut for eight months if a solution is not arrived at immediately. The chief operations manager of Konkan Railway, D P Tayal, said, "I am not the right person to talk about this." Konkan Railway spokesperson Vaishali Patange said she was unaware of the issue. Forwarded By Edward Verdes _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
