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Construction activity led to Igatpuri landslide

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Man-made problems and not heavy rains might have led to the landslide at Igatpuri that knocked off Central Railway's Kasara-Nashik rail route for all of Wednesday right up to the wee hours of Thursday.

Prima facie this is the reason, according to Central Railway engineers who visited the spot, some 4km off Igatpuri. Some of these officials, who did not want to be named since the report on the landslide is not yet fomalised, said construction in the area and the presence of a heavily-patronised resort on the top of the hillock adjoining the tracks where the landslide occurred could have been catalysts.

"It is too early to say but we believe that this resort and the extensive construction that has gone into it could have progressively loosened the sides of the hillock," a top-ranking CR official said. "Of course several technical tests will have to be done before we can jump to any conclusion."

The official said the intensity of the landslide could be gauged from the fact that the mud and boulder that came crashing down not only filled up a drain running 15ft below the tracks but also covered the tracks with close to 3 metres of muck.

Another called it a pretty much Sandhurst Road-like situation where some days earlier the retaining wall along the sides of an old building had started giving away. Parts of the wall in that case collapsed on two consecutive days and CR had to then put pressure on the BMC and the Mhada to have the building — Thorat House — pulled down.

Officials said the situation in stretches like Igatpuri is expected to worsen in the coming years as construction activity for recreational structures goes up. "Igatpuri is one of the most beautiful places. And in the years to come, these hillocks will sport more such resorts. This only increases the dangers for the railway track running below," an official said.

On Wednesday, thousands of passengers were stranded on various stretches after the sides of a hillock fell on the tracks close to Igatpuri station. The landslide covered two of the three lines and led to massive train delays. Against a normal movement of 160 trains on the route, an official said, close to 10 trains ran on Wednesday.

The route was cleared at 3am on Thursday and it was fully functional at 7.30am.

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