A day after three boulders weighing a tonne fell on top of Mumbai-bound Hubballi-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express injuring three persons, Commissioner of Railway Safety, AK Jain has taken suo moto cognisance of the incident. He will hold a public hearing on August 23 at the Central Railway headquarters on the matter.
Jain will meet the passengers of the Hubballi-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Express who where on board the ill-fated train. Villagers on the Lonavala-Karjat stretch, who know about this incident will also attend the hearing and give their perspective on the accident.
It has come to fore that following a series of inspections, the Central Railway removed several loose rocks in the hilly terrain before and during the monsoon, which according to sources, eventually led to boulder collapses.
Accoridng to them, removal of several big rocks and boulders may have weakened the terrain. Some officials even questioned the need for carrying out removal of loose blocks during monsoon when the soil is slippery.
"More than 150 boulder blocks were removed," an official said.
CR had officially stated that heavy rains were the reason behind boulders falling and piercing the coaches of the Hubballi-LTT Express.
Meanwhile, authorities are more worried about the treacherous 7-km long Monkey Hill-Thakurwadi stretch. In the last two months, this is the second time that a long distance train service have been affected.
TERRAIN CHECK
During a boulder block inspection, gangmen check the strength of boulders and rocks using hammers and tongs. Workmen look for a certain vibration to check if a rock has loosened. These gangmen work in teams of two, inspecting the hilly terrain between 6 pm to 6 am.
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