Maharashtra floods: Railway employees form human chain in the dark in waist-deep water

Rameshbhai Nagar, a commuter, got under the train to rescue the boy

In an act of great bravery and duty, staff of the Konkan Railway faced the heavy rain last week to provide food to passengers stranded in a train at Chiplun station. At least 40 of them managed to wade through waist-deep water in darkness and the pouring rain by forming a human chain to do this.

As the water levels under the Vashishti river bridge between Chiplun and Kamthe station in Ratnagiri region rose, all services on the Konkan Railway were stopped. Several trains were stranded at many locations with over 5,000 passengers in them.

"The Konkan Railway was affected for nearly 72 hours and trains had been stranded with no idea when the water would recede. The question was how to provide food and dinner to the stranded passengers. The trains which had pantry cars could manage somehow, but the problem was for trains without pantry cars which were stuck at smaller stations like Kamthe," a senior official said.

The rescued boy was given first aid and then sent to a hospital in the vicinity

"The stations were inundated with water, but the staff did their best and managed to prepare breakfast for the passengers as the heavy rain continued. After that, providing lunch and evening snacks proved to be a bigger challenge, but it was also met." he said.

"The biggest challenge was at Chiplun station itself. The station ran out of food and there was no way to step out and arrange more due to the high water levels and rain. The Mumbai-Sawantwadi Tutari Express train was stranded at Chiplun station. It was safe, but as the sun set, about 550 passengers in it needed to be provided dinner on time and there was no way of doing it as the station was inundated," he added.

Also read: Maharashtra rains: Death toll reaches 213; eight still missing

"It was then decided to cook food at Khed station nearby and transport it to Chiplun. The food was prepared and loaded onto a tower rail wagon that is usually used for overhead wire maintenance. The tower rail wagon managed to run till Anjani station, but it could not move ahead due to rising water levels," he added.

"There was another rail maintenance vehicle (RMV) train standing beyond the flooded water stretches. Somehow the food had to reach the RMV train and this is when 40 Konkan Railway employees made a human chain to carry the food packages by standing in waist deep water. Holding each other's hand along the rail track in darkness, these employees fought their way through water to make sure that the food packets for 550 passengers reached the RMV train from where they were taken to Chiplun station," he said.

The soil and stones under the tracks at Chiplun were washed away in the heavy rain

Many employees worked continuously for 72 hours and none of the loco pilots and guards of the stranded nine trains abandoned their trains even for a minute. Once the water receded, it was found that several metres of track had washed away, and this was fixed after another battle of eight hours.

Commuter saves kid

In another brave act, a commuter at Vasai station saved a child who had fallen onto rail tracks last week. As per WR officials, at 11:17 am, passengers of a Virar train at Vasai platform number 2 pulled the chain to stop it. Officials said that as the train departed, the child aged about 12 years fell between the gap of two coaches while running on the platform. He could not be removed immediately. A commuter, Rameshbhai Nagar, came forward and jumped down to help. The station staff then cautiously moved the train 15-16 metres toward the Virar-end and the child was rescued. After first aid he was sent to Ravi hospital at 11:35am.

40
No. of employees who formed the human chain