Konkan Railway resumes services after landslide havoc

Agencies

 

Panaji, 31 August 2011: The train services on Konkan Railway route were resumed after torrential rains in the region triggered a major landslide in Ratnagiri sector of Maharashtra that had thrown the traffic out of gear for nearly twelve hours on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 affecting scores of commuters heading for upcoming Ganesh festival.

 

The train services remained disrupted throughout the day and the schedule could be normalised only in the evening, twelve hours after the wall collapse was noticed in the morning, Konkan Railway officials said.

 

The wall collapse was noticed at around 8.15 AM on Tuesday following which the traffic was immediately suspended on the route connecting the coastal region to Mumbai in north and Karwar in south, they said.

 

Incessant rains have hit the Konkan belt since last three days.

 

Konkan Railway Corporation Limited’s (KRCL’s) Chief Public Relations Officer Siddheshwar Telugu said that a wall had collapsed at around 8.20 AM near Pomendi between Ratnagiri and Nivsar railway sections.

 

Following the incident, some trains on the route were regulated between various stations on Konkan Railway, while some were diverted via Panvel, Pune, Miraj, Londa and vice versa, he said, adding the tracks were cleared at 7 PM as the work was taken up on war footing.

 

The landslide had left several hundred people, who were returning to their homes from Mumbai to celebrate ten-day Ganesh festival, stranded throughout the day.

 

KRCL has been running special trains to clear the festive rush from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai to Madgao (Goa) since August 28.

 

The corporation has also augmented coaches on its existing trains for the purpose.