Konkan Railway Gears up for Monsoon-2021

Prakash Kamat

Panaji,June 3 -- As the fight against the second wave of Covid-19 strengthens, the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited(KRCL) gears for the upcoming monsoons in the Konkan region.

All efforts are being made to maintain track and passenger amenities ensuring all safety related guidelines and Covid-19 protocols,says a spokesperson of KRCL on Thursday.

The Konkan region is known to receive heavy rainfall during the monsoon seasons. Konkan Railway runs through this region comprises of a 740Km long route. 

All planned safety works on this route from Kolad to Thokur have been completed. Special attention has been given to catch water drain cleaning and inspection of cuttings. The large-scale geo-safety works executed along the railway line in last few years have significantly reduced the incidences of boulder fall and soil slip, thus ensuring safe running of trains. No major disruption to train services have occured on account of boulder fall during monsoons in the last 8 years,claimed the spokesperson.

Konkan Railway will conduct Monsoon Patrolling as per the prescribed guidelines  to ensure safe running of trains. About 681 personnel will patrol the Konkan Railway route during the monsoon. Vulnerable locations will be patrolled round the clock and Stationary Watchmen will be deployed for 24 hours at critical locations. Speed restrictions will be imposed at vulnerable locations. BRN mounted excavators have been kept ready at nominated points for quick movement in case of any emergency.

Instructions have also been issued to loco pilots to run the trains at a reduced speed of 40 kmph in case of heavy rainfall when visibility is limited. Self-propelled ARMVs (Accident Relief Medical Van), with provision of Operation Theatre and emergency medical aid are kept ready at Ratnagiri and Verna (Goa).  The ART (Accident Relief Train) is also kept ready at Verna (Goa).

Mobile phones have been provided to all safety category staff to contact the control office / station in an emergency. Both Loco Pilots and Guards of trains have been provided with Walkie-talkie sets as well as every station on Konkan Railway is equipped with a 25 Watt VHF base station. This enables wireless communication between the train crew as well as train crew and Station Master. Emergency Communication(EMC) sockets have been provided at a distance of average 1 Km along the Konkan Railway route that enables the Patrolmen, Watchmen, Loco Pilots, Guard and other field maintenance staff to contact Station Master and control office during any emergency situations. Satellite phone communication has been provided in ARMV(Accident Relief Medical Van) for emergency contact. All main signal aspects on Konkan Railway are now replaced with LEDs for improving signal visibility.

Self-recording rain gauges have been installed at 9 stations viz. Mangaon, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Vilwade, Kanakavali, Madgaon, Karwar, Bhatkal & Udupi which will record the rainfall in the region and alert Officials in case of increased rainfall. Flood warning systems for bridges have been provided at 3 locations viz. Kali river (between Mangaon and Veer), Savitri river (between Veer and Sape Wamane), Vashishti river (between Chiplun and Kamathe) and will alert officials in case of flash flood in the river when water flow reaches above danger Level. Anemometers have been installed at 04 locations viz. Panval viaduct (between Ratnagiri and Nivasar), Mandovi bridge (between Thivim and Karmali ), Zuari bridge ( Karmali and Verna) and Sharavati bridge (between Honnavar and Manki) to monitor the wind velocity.

Control rooms at Belapur, Ratnagiri and Madgaon, will work 24 x 7 during monsoon period for ensuring safe running of trains. Monsoon time table will come into effect from 10th June, 2021 upto 31st Oct, 2021. Passengers may check train status online during monsoon by visiting www.konkanrailway.com or using KRCL App by downloading from Google Play Store or by dialing 139.

During the recent cyclone Tauktae that majorly hit the Konkan coast, the services over Konkan Railway functioned with no major disruptions despite strong cyclonic winds and heavy rainfall. "Konkan Railway aims to ensure safe travel for its passengers in the coming monsoon with the measures taken above",said Dy. PRO,Konkan Railway Girish Karandikar on Thursday.(eom)