Central Railway on Monday shot off notices to Igatpuri Municipal Council and a heavily patronised resort called Manas Lifestyle Resort for the landslide in Igatpuri that knocked off CR's Kasara-Nashik rail route on July 30-31, leaving thousands of long-distance travellers stranded in trains all the way from CST to Nashik.
What does CR want to find out?
Top-ranking officials told dna that the notices have been sent to find out the kind of permissions Igatpuri Municipal Council has given the resort for construction. The resort has been asked to explain if any of its construction activity has resulted in the hillock overlooking the rail tracks loosening or being in danger of succumbing to landslides.
Officialspeak
"The notices are being sent today and, based on that, further action will be taken. The railways will have to ensure that these stretches are kept safe during monsoon as well as other times so that the kind of disruption we had on July 30-31 is not repeated," said a top-ranking official.
Why is the resort in trouble?
The resort and the general level of construction activity along the picturesque stretch had been identified as the prima facie causes of the landslide, when a team of civil engineers from CR's engineering department had gone to investigate.
dna, in its August 2 edition, had highlighted how CR engineers were of the view that the landslide appeared more man-made than just a result of heavy rains that occurred in the region over the past few days.
How is the affected stretch important?
The Mumbai-Nashik stretch is among the busiest routes for the railways with a huge chunk of north- and east-bound trains from CR using the route. On any normal day, the Northeast section of CR — the Kasara-Nashik stretch — sees close to 160 train movements. These include some 50 pairs of mail and express trains that come into and go out of Mumbai to different parts of the country, and 10 pairs of goods trains in and out of Mumbai.
"Disruptions on the Kasara-Igatpuri stretch mean hardship to thousands of passengers and losses running into crores due to the suspension of goods train movements. It is not something the railways can afford to take lightly," said a senior CR official.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}