04 November,2019 07:25 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B Aklekar
Central Railway has had to remove over 700 boulders that were found to be dangerous between Karjat and Lonavala
Commuters between Mumbai and Pune, especially hundreds of them travelling between Karjat, Lonavala and Panvel, have threatened to protest after a number of trains were cancelled, diverted, and short-terminated between Mumbai and Pune due to extensive damage to the south-east ghat section this monsoon.
Passenger association member Nitin Parmar said, "Passengers travelling between Mumbai, Karjat and Lonavala and Pune have been suffering due to the endless work being carried out by the Central Railway and it has led to extreme crowding and chaos on the line."
"Travelling has become a nightmare and there have been the festival crowd in addition to regular officegoers in the area who have been facing issues like suffocation and delays. Senior citizens and women have been troubled too," Prabhakar Gangawane of Karjat Passengers' Association told mid-day.
Railway officials said thay found that the ghat section had received one of the heaviest of rainfalls this season, and over 700 boulders found to be dangerous had to be removed and work was also on to stabilise the rail line as safety has been the utmost priority. The work will go on for the entire month and so the railways have had to limit the number of services along the stretch.
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Gangawane alleged services have been shut on two lines and that this is unprecedented, with there being no hope of resuming services in the next few months. "How long should we suffer? There are no alternative arrangements and if things do not improve, we will be intensifying our agitation and protest against the Mumbai division," he said, seeking at least shuttle services between Karjat and Panvel.
Another regular commuter Akshay Marathe has been tweeting to the Central Railway (CR) every day for nearly a week. "This is the fifth day that I have tweeted and there has been no action from the CR. Please provide shuttle services for Panvel-Karjat as all trains on this stretch have been cancelled for all of November..." he had tweeted.
CR officials said it was difficult to roll back all cancellations now, but a few trains will be restored soon. They added that there was no plan as of now to run shuttle services.
"The 28-km-long ghat section from Lonavala to Karjat had suffered extensive damage due to heavy rains. Various works were undertaken at different patches leading to train traffic either being diverted, short-terminated or cancelled. Except for the restoration work of a bridge between Monkey Hill-Nagnath UP line section, all other work is done. The restoration is being done in full swing," Central Railway's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.
Sutar said only Pragati Express and Panvel shuttle train have been cancelled. "Pandharpur/Bijapur-CSMT popular passenger train will be restored for a few days," he said.
Cancelled trains
As per a note sent on October 30, 10 trains have been cancelled, two have been diverted via Daund-Manmad and 10 other trains have been short-terminated at Pune.
Cancelled trains
Diverted trains (via Daund-Manmad)
Trains short-originated/short-terminated
10
No. of trains cancelled
02
No. of trains diverted
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