Mumbai: Vegetable grower averts train tragedy on Kanjurmarg tracks

A large chunk of the track near Kanjurmarg station broken on Sunday morning

A vegetable grower working along the tracks near Kanjurmarg could not shake off the unsettling clanging sound as a train passed over a stretch. When he checked, he saw a huge crack in the track. He immediately ran along the line waving his umbrella, successfully stopping the next train scheduled to go over the dangerous portion.

An earlier speeding Badlapur train that passed the stretch had experienced a heavy jerk along the same stretch. Railway officials said that at about 8:36 am, the speeding Badlapur train on the Kalyan-bound fast line experienced a very heavy jerk near Kanjurmarg station. This was reported by its motorman DL Pawar and guard PD Chavda to the control room.

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Darshan Chauhan who noticed a large chunk of the track near Kanjurmarg station broken on Sunday morning

Sources said that the motorman of the subsequent Thane train AS Rajput saw a local person waving his umbrella to desperately stop the train. Rajput realised that something unusual must have happened and applied emergency brakes, immediately stopping the train, only to find the a 1 to 1.5-feet rail head missing from the tracks ahead of him. The emergency control was immediately alerted and the track was fixed.

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The man who alerted the motorman was identified as local vegetable farmer Darshan Chauhan. He saw the track being broken badly and sensed that it could result in derailment. Chauhan told railway officials that he heard the clanging sound of the rails when the earlier train passed and found it to be unusual which is when he checked the track and found it to be broken. That's when he ran with his umbrella to alert the motorman of the approaching Thane local.

The motorman of the approaching train was signalled by Darshan Chauhan with an umbrella to stop the train. Representationa pic

A Central Railway spokesperson, however, maintained that the information regarding the rail fracture was received through the railway guard of the Badlapur train and accordingly, the guard of Thane fast local was informed. He stopped the train in coordination with the motorman.

"Services, which were diverted on the Kalyan slow line for repair work, resumed within 75 minutes," the spokesperson said, adding, "A technical investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of the rail fracture" as track conditions on the section are told to be good. The crew and control involved in the incident will be awarded suitably for avoiding the untoward incident, sources in the railways said.

The bus had reportedly undergone some wiring changes recently, sources said

No injuries in fire accident

In another incident, a Ganapati special Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus caught fire early Sunday morning near Wadpale village in Mangaon taluka of Raigad district. But thanks to the alert driver and conductor, all passengers were safely evacuated and no injuries to anyone were reported. Some passengers lost their luggage in the fire though.

MSRTC officials said that the incident occurred at 6:45 am and the Mumbai-Chiplun bus, MH20 BL-4209 belonged to Ichalkaranji depot of Kolhapur division. Sources said that smoke first started coming out of the bonnet of the bus and when the driver alighted to inspect it. When he opened the bonnet, the fire burst into flames. All the luggage on the bus caught fire even as the passengers were evacuated.

Sources said that the bus had undergone a wiring change recently. However, MSRTC has formed a committee to probe into the incident. The stranded passengers were sent by another bus to their destination.

6.45am
Time at which the MSRTC bus caught fire

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