Prepared for Mumbai monsoon, say the Railways; not quite, say activists

Before and after pictures of the garbage (left) cleared from near the tracks at (right) Dadar

The Railways have said they are prepared for the monsoon. At least 54 wagons loaded with boulders and quarry soil have been kept ready in various parts of Mumbai on the Central Railway, while there have been drone surveys to identify problem spots on Western Railway. Central and Western Railway have also claimed to have cleaned up kilometres of drains, but commuter activists said that the old drain stretches on the Harbour line near Mahim, Wadala and King's Circle still remained clogged and need extensive cleaning.

Railway officials said that on Central Railway in the Mumbai suburban section, 29 locations had been identified as flood prone and high-pressure pumps had been deployed there to be operated as and when needed. On Western Railway in the Mumbai division, a drone survey had been carried out at 23 locations to monitor, clean and identify choke points in culverts and nullahs.

A nullah being cleaned of filth on Central Railway

Patrolling, a must

"Track maintainers patrol their section in pairs on foot and scan for dangers like rail breakage, fracture, etc. During the monsoon, certain sections of the railway line are identified and specified for patrolling by railway men to detect damage by flood such as breaches, boulder falls, settlements, slips and immediate action is taken to protect from the rain, when warranted. At least 52 such sections have been identified where patrolling is warranted. Out of these 34 are in Mumbai division' ghat sections. Around 300 patrolmen with GPS trackers have been deployed to patrol these identified sections during the monsoon," Central Railway chief spokesperson Shivaji Sutar said.

"At least 170 wagons full of boulders and quarry soil have been kept in different locations spread over the Central Railway, to meet any exigency of washouts or subsidence of formation of slope failure due to extreme heavy rain. Out of these wagons, 54 wagons are in Mumbai division," he added.

Also read: Mumbai: BMC moves to secure 90,000 manholes, one week before monsoon

Western Railway has completed the cleaning of 55 culverts, 44 kms of drain de-silting and construction of 6 km new drains. Muck removal of 1.60 lakh cubic meters has been completed at 28 identified locations. The work was carried out by deploying specifically designed muck special trains. Flood gauges have been provided at 36 locations. New manholes and drains have been constructed for the facilitation of smooth water discharge. "Additional waterway for culverts created at Vasai Road, Kandivli and Dadar-Parel section by micro tunneling. In addition, trimming of 1,852 trees and cutting of 20 vulnerable trees is completed," Western Railway chief spokesperson Sumit Thakur said.

Thakur said that due to experience in previous monsoons, flood-prone areas on railway premises were identified and various precautionary works have been completed at these locations.

Concerns about Harbour line

But commuter activists expressed concerns over old drains along the Harbour line near Mahim, Wadala and King's Circle, and said that there was a need to clean them on a priority basis. "Between Mahim and CSMT, on the harbour line, not an inch of drains have been cleaned. All drain lines are chock-a-block with silt, garbage. There will be massive water accumulation and train services will be cancelled causing immense hardship to commuters. It will be interesting to know how much the railways have shown as expenses for drain cleaning and what is their excuse for not getting the drains cleaned. Huge pumps have been kept at Sewri station, presumably to suck out accumulated water but no drains have been cleaned as yet, and the monsoon is a few days away," commuter activist Ahmed Memon said.

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No. of wagons with boulders and soil ready on Mumbai division