13 July,2014 06:50 AM IST | | Shashank Rao
Commuters will have to brace themselves for a disruption in train services on the Central line due to the demolition of a building close to Sandhurst Road station. There will also be a mega block on the Harbour line
If you have made plans to travel by local trains on Central Railway (CR) today, then amend it, unless you are ready to brace crowded trains. The special block for demolition of a building and the Sunday mega block will make travelling a nightmare for nearly 40 lakh CR commuters.
The building near Sandhurst Road will be demolished today
CR is expected to cancel more than 100 train services for demolition work between 11pm (Saturday) to 7am (Sunday). Officials expect this scheduled time to extend due to the heavy rainfall that is lashing the city over the last couple of days. There will also be a mega block on Harbour line from 11.30am to 3.30pm on Kurla-CST and Wadala-Mahim routes, resulting in cancellation of services.
Operation demolition
From Saturday night, CR authorities will start demolishing the two-storeyed Thorat House. This will go on till at least 7am. This cessed building, which was constructed in 1950s, shares its boundary walls with the railway lines. Over the last couple of days, there have been two incidents where the structure's retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks affecting train services.
"Around 12 people will demolish this cessed building," said a MHADA official who is overseeing the work. Apart from this the CR will have more than 80 workers and gangmen including officers at Sandhurst Road station who will supervise the work. These workers will hammer down the building in such a way that it won't collapse onto the tracks. Apart from this, more than 80 workers and gangmen including officers at Sandhurst Road station will supervise the work. "We will carry out the demolition work. Later we will decide on the construction of the retaining wall," said AK Singh, PRO, CR.
