The Mysuru Division of the South Western Railway (SWR) is bracing for four months of monsoon slated to commence from June and has taken measures to mitigate the impact of any adverse or extreme natural events like landslides in the ghat sections.
The South Western Railway has two major ghat sections – Sakleshpur-Subramanya Road and Castle Rocck-Kulem of which the former is in the Mysuru division and the latter comes under the Hubballi division.
In Mysuru division the ghat section with challenging and difficult terrain covers a distance of nearly 55 km between Sakleshpur and Subramanya Road and the authorities have put in place measures to ensure smooth running of trains apart from ensuring passenger safety and preventing any harm to railway property.
Shilpi Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Mysuru Divisional Railway, told The Hindu that the precautionary measures and preparations to ward off any challenges arising from rains begin in pre-monsoon season and have been completed in the division.
She said at both Sakleshpur and Subramanya Road adequate inventory of boulders, sandbags, heavy earth moving equipment have been stationed and are ready for movement at instant notice apart from being stored in vulnerable sections. As there is no other approach route to the ghat section any material has to be moved from either Subramanya or Sakleshpur, she added.
The preparations for the rainy season commenced during the pre-monsoon season from the first week of May and apart from stocking of materials, patrol teams have also been deployed in the ghat section. There is patrolling by day and by night covering every inch of the track which is in addition to the normal keyman’s (persons who patrol the tracks and are involved in track maintenance) duties conducted in the morning, said Ms. Shilpi Agarwal.
“We have identified 31 vulnerable locations along the 55 km stretch and there are 93 watchmen and 80 patrolmen who will be on duty and keep a watch on the tracks and the terrain and the men have been trained on measures to be taken during sudden or intense rain,” she added.
Those deployed on site have been provided with portable cabins so that they can stay and take shelter during rain. Earlier, they used to carry bamboo and tarpaulin sheets for making temporary shelters and this has been replaced by portable cabins, said Ms. Shilpi Agarwal.
Apart from equipment for protection from rain, diesel generator sets have also been provided for electricity supply besides communication equipment to contact the control room directly to report any untoward event.
The General Manager of SWR Mr. Arvind Srivastava, accompanied by Ms. Shilpi Agarwal and senior officials conducted an inspection of the ghat section early this week to take stock of the monsoon preparations.
One of the significant features of the safety measures include construction of retaining walls, rock fall barriers and netting at vulnerable places and this is done every year to minimise the impact of landslides or boulders rolling down the slopes.
Ms. Shilpi Agarwal said that branches of 17,000 trees on either side of the railway track have been pruned and trimmed as a safety measure while an aerial survey of the terrain using drones in areas not easily accessible, has also been conducted as part of safety drive.
