Amid concerns of monsoons taking a heavy toll on the railway infrastructure of the city, Western Railway has started pre-monsoon works in the city along its tracks. Each year, railway tracks and other infrastructure gets significantly impacted by the monsoons. Authorities say that cleaning of drains along the Western Railway’s lines will be completed by the 5th of June, while the cleaning of culverts will be finished by June 10. The authorities are said to be focusing on the Churchgate-Virar section of Western Railway.
The work is currently underway with the hope that when the lockdown is eventually lifted and trains start operating again, there are no issues with free movement. A railway official said “Till now 2,50,000 cubic metre of muck/garbage has been removed by deploying JCB, Poclain, manual labour and specially modified EMU muck train for carrying the muck. The work is aimed to be completed by 30th May, 2020.” The railway staff is currently said to be at 10-15% capacity as several workers have not returned for work.
Other work like tightening of lookout glasses for the motorman cabin, as well as the protection of roof joints and high voltage equipment, are also being conducted by railway staff. Despite the low workforce, it is said that the maintenance will be completed by May 31.
The authorities are also going to elevate the tracks by up to 150mm for 32.581 km of tracks using a track tamping machine. This work will reportedly be concluded by May 30. Further, micro tunneling methods are being used to add waterways along the Vasai-Virar section to avoid clogging of rainwater when the monsoon arrives.
On the other hand, the authorities have completed inspecting Powai Lake, Vihar Lake, and Tulsi Lake in accordance with state officials. Railways have also made sure the electrical components on trains are also maintained ahead of the monsoons. This includes the protection of earthing wires and other equipment. The officials have reportedly cleaned 1,395 insulators so far.
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