Railway tracks to be cleaned before monsoon

In a bid to smoothen its operations during the monsoon,general manager of Western Railway on Sunday morning inspected the ongoing works at the suburban section between Churchgate and Borivali.

In a bid to smoothen its operations during the monsoon,general manager of Western Railway on Sunday morning inspected the ongoing works at the suburban section between Churchgate and Borivali and directed the departments concerned to remove the debris found in some locations and shift construction materials kept on the tracks.

Preparations ahead of the monsoon on WR are in full swing. This year the BMC has allotted Rs 65 lakh to get the cross culverts cleaned ( BMC culverts which cross the railway premises). Last year also the BMC had allotted Rs 70 lakh to clean up the drains. This year,WR has a budget of Rs 2 crore for the monsoon-related preparations.

Shyam Sunder Gupta,chief public relations officer,Western Railway,said,Between Churchgate and Virar,there are 54 culverts. Out of these,11 culverts belong to the BMC. So,the civic body will clean up these culverts. WR will clean 43 drains/culverts. Out of these,cleaning of 25 drains have already been finished and remaining drains will be completed by May 20.

On May 10,General Manager RN Verma,WR,inspected the suburban section between Churchgate and Borivali along with divisional railway manager of the Mumbai division and all principal heads of departments principal chief engineer,chief signal and telecom engineer and other senior officials and reviewed the progress of monsoon- related works.

During the inspection,Verma directed officials to give more concentration on the low-lying areas like Matunga,Mahim and Mumbai Central.

Apart from this,the major works being taken care are cleaning and desilting of central drains and culverts. Additional drains are also being constructed,where they are required. The cleaning wok of flanges is also going on in full swing. The other works include painting of flood gauges for the guidance of railway men,removal of muck away from railway lines and lifting of tracks at some locations.

The cleaning work of flanges is also going on. This is the area where ballast touches the rail. Cleaning is very important here to avoid water-logging. Keys,which tight the rails on sleepers are also being painted to avoid corrosion.

Story continues below this ad

Over 40 pumps would be installed at various locations to pump out water from railway yards. Out of these,eight pumps will be installed in Matunga,three in Mahim and five will be installed in Dadar. The remaining will be installed at other flooding areas.

Shyam Sunder Gupta said,WR has done preparations ahead of the monsoon. If monsoon comes early,WR is prepared for that.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram