Power failure halts monorail for over 3 hours
Auto restoration fails, Fire Brigade called for rescue; CM orders probe.
Firemen inspect the train after evacuating passengers near Bhakti Park on Sunday. (Source: Express Photo by Kevin DSouza)Ten passengers and the captain of a monorail train, were evacuated after it stopped mid-section near the Bhakti Park station, near Wadala, for more than an hour on Sunday morning, officials from the Fire Brigade confirmed.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an inquiry into the breakdown.
At 8 am, a power sub-station between the Bhakti Park and Mysore Colony stations failed, which led to the stoppage of the train. “We got a call at around 9 am and we immediately deployed one fire engine, an ambulance and an aerial ladder to the spot,” said a fire official. All passengers were evacuated with the help of the 47-metre tall ladder.
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An official in-charge of the rescue operations said, “We could complete the rescue operations within half an hour as the ladder could accommodate 4-5 people at the same time.”
According to officials from the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), in such cases, wherein one supply line has failed, an alternate power line is immediately activated through the software from the operation control room.
That failed on Sunday and authorities had to resort to manual restoration, which took over 3 hours.
Venugopal Reddy, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said, “We cannot determine what caused the digital failure. We will take two more days to determine the exact cause of power failure too. We will also levy a penalty on the respective contractors for the incident.” The contractors include a consortium of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Malaysia’s Scomi engineering.
Monorail operations have been plagued by a series of disruptions since it began operations in February 2014 due to technical failures in the rolling stock and power supply.
This was, however, the first time that the fire brigade was called in to rescue passengers from the train.
On Sunday, the chief minister also tweeted about the incident stating that he has ordered an inquiry.
Fadnavis said, “I am personally looking into the incident of the breakdown. I have directed the principal secretary (Ministry of Urban Development) to ascertain the factors that lead to the disruption of services. I can understand the anxiety caused to the passengers who were travelling in the monorail. But we will take immediate measures to see such incidents are averted.”
A senior government official confirmed that the disruption was due to power failure. “We are still trying to ascertain whether it was a technical snag or operational lapse. Irrespective of the problems, we will have to streamline the glitches to ensure that such things don’t recur,” the official said.
mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
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