Central Railway, General Manager, Alok Kansal reviewed the monsoon preparation works on Mumbai Division through a virtual meeting recently. He instructed the officials of the Mumbai Division to check drawings for arrangement over a joint meeting to prevent ingress of water in connection with ‘Augmentation of the waterway of the existing bridge by insertion of new RCC boxes’. Also, several inductions have been given regarding inspection of Cuttings, Tunnels, Catchwater drains and other monsoon related items.
Ghat section
Alok Kansal had inspected the ghats in 2019 when he was on Railway Board. He shared his suggestions for taking various measures at vulnerable locations in the ghats. This includes Canadian fencing at certain locations to retain the cutting in southeast ghat, prevention of boulder falling through wire net and steel beams, raising of drain wall to prevent excess water flowing on tracks. Moreover, it has been planned to provide epoxy grouting of a lined portion of the tunnel and steel arch ribs supported on the concrete wall up to springing level for an unlined portion of the tunnel and work will start soon. Provision of dynamic rockfall barriers with secure drapery of geocomposite steel grid/mesh and other protective work is in progress.
South East ghat: length about 28 km with approximately 58 tunnels, North East ghat: length about 14 km approximately 18 tunnels. DBKM (Flat wagons) wagons loaded with poclain machine work in ghat to clear muck, clean drainage & are being kept as standby arrangement. So far, 800 loose boulders have been dropped with the help of hill gangs, boulder special train and similar numbers are planned to drop before the arrival of the monsoon.
Widening /Augmentation of Culverts
Five pipes of 1.8-meter dia and 200 meters long were pushed via micro-tunnelling between Kurla and Vidyavihar. Enhanced waterway by insertion of RCC box adjacent to existing bridge between Panvel and Karjat, Vadala and Ravli, Tilak Nagar, Badlapur and Vangani. Similar pipe of 1.8-meter dia and 400-meter length at Sandhurst Road, one-meter dia and 70-meter length at Masjid were pushed via micro-tunnelling with the help of State Government
Increase in Capacity and number of pumps at identified locations
Railways have also planned to provide heavy-duty pumps for fast drainage to ensure free flow of the stormwater so that the water is drained out quickly from the tracks and train operations are not disrupted during the monsoon period. The number of pumps will be increased by 10% as compared to last year.
Signal & Telecom
Waterproof motors in the flood-prone area have been provided. Waterproofing of terminal blocks, sealing of commutator chamber, gearbox and coil drum and modification in gearbox assembly is being carried out and completed by May 2021.
Traction Distribution
Ensuring the maintenance of Crossovers, Turnouts, Masts, Cantilevers etc for smooth operations of trains by operating power blocks. The Live Line Checking by Tower Wagon and Foot Patrolling of sections is being carried out to ensure the healthiness of OHE gears for the smooth running of trains. The work being carried out are rusty portal booms removal, checking and maintaining critical clearance under ROB/ FOB in the entire Mumbai division.
Electrical General
Checking of standby supply DG sets, working off its AMF panel and emergency circuits, trimming of tree branches in the vicinity of electrical assets, outdoor panels, overhead lines, checking of cables and bus bar connections by temperature gun and cleaning with hot blower, overhauling and breakdown attention of pumps at various locations on Mumbai Division.
Security
Quick Reaction Team and Flood Rescue Team of Railway Protection Force have undergone training by NDRF. 5 mechanized rescue boats have been placed strategically for any eventuality. Drone monitoring by the RPF staff for timely inputs to Control Office.
Coordination meetings
Further coordination meetings are being done with MCGM authorities. Several new initiatives have been put in place by the Central Railway as part of the preparedness for monsoon this year. Around 1.5 lakh cubic meter of muck removed from the trackside by running muck specials, 225 km length of drains cleaned and 100 km of track raising is planned this year. The works are in progress and will be completed in the stipulated time.
The control office is working 24×7 and keep close coordination with various agencies of state/central government.
The other divisions - Pune, Solapur, Bhusaval and Nagpur have been instructed to expedite the monsoon related works.
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