Mumbai-Pune journey turns harrowing for 126 passengers

Sharukh Irani, who boarded Deccan Queen along with 125 passengers, with daughter Dinaz Prasad Sorkhab

A train journey of about four hours from Mumbai to Pune turned into a harrowing experience for around 126 passengers, including a 71-year-old diabetic man, after heavy rainfall led to a landslide near Monkey Hill railway station.

Sharukh Irani, who had come to Mumbai for some personal work, boarded Deccan Queen Express around 9.30 pm on Saturday after almost four-and-a-half-hour delay due to heavy rainfall in city. The train, however, could not reach its destination due to a landslide near Monkey Hill railway station. The passengers were brought back to Kalyan, from where they boarded another train but still could not reach Pune till late afternoon.

"Deccan Queen was to leave for Pune at 5.10 pm. However, it was raining heavily and the train got delayed by over four hours and left only at 9.30 pm. The train suddenly stopped near Karjat. We were told around 1.30 am that there was a landslide and the train cannot go any further. We were then taken back to Kalyan around 3 am and asked to board Sinhagad Express, which was to take a different route to Pune. The train departed at 3.45 am, but around 5.30 am on Sunday, we stopped at Umbermali railway station," Sharukh told mid-day.

Stranded for 13 hours

The passengers were stranded at the Umbermali station "without food and water" for over 13 hours as the tracks were blocked due to flooding and landslide. Paresh Padiya, another passenger, said, "We were stuck at Umbermali station for more than 13 hours. We did not have drinking water or food. Several passengers needed to eat something to take their take medicines."

They somehow managed to get some food at the station and Sharukh, a hypertension and diabetic patient, had to share a co-passenger's medicine. "One of the co-passengers shared half his medicine with my father," Sharukh's daughter Dinaz Prasad Sorkhab told mid-day.

In the meantime, the railways provided three buses to the stranded passengers to bring them back to Mumbai from where they would have been sent to Pune. However, the passengers refused the offer and requested the bus drivers to take them directly to Pune and paid Rs 300 each, said Padiya.

Also read: Mumbai rain hits transport services but fails to hold back the city

While most of the passengers took the bus to Pune, others waited till the train got a go-ahead from the railways. Central Railway spokesperson AK Singh said, "The railways managed to get the tracks clear by around 2.30 pm and train movement started accordingly. Sinhagad Express left Kasara station around 3.08 pm. We have provided food and biscuits to the remaining passengers."

Also read: Mumbai Rains: Mithi river sinks city amid moderate rainfall

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