Landslides damage tracks; trains running late by two hours; passengers face hardship.
The Konkan Railway is still struggling to repair the tracks damaged in the Thokur-Padil stretch on Mangalore-Goa sector due to mudslides four days ago. All trains on this line are running late by at least two hours.
Passengers are being provided buses to continue their journey, but shifting from a train to bus and then from bus to a train with heavy luggage in a span of less than 30 minutes is taking its toll on passengers.
KRCL officials have arranged for buses at Suratkal and Mangalore Junction. Trains running on this line from south to destinations, like Panaji, Margao, Verna, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and further, are being terminated at the Mangalore Junction. Another train, waiting at Suratkal with the same number, then takes the passengers to their destinations. Buses transport the passengers from Mangalore Junction to Suratkal
Similarly, trains from the west and north heading to south are terminated at Suratkal. Passengers are ferried by a fleet of buses from Suratkal to Mangalore Junction.
According to a Konkan Railway official, the KRCL has deployed a fleet of 142 buses for transporting passengers from Suratkal to Mangalore Junction and vice versa. On Tuesday, the buses had ferried 7,484 passengers, he said.
The repair work on the damaged tracks is continuing. The track had sustained heavy damage due to the landslide and boulder avalanche. Railway safety inspectors are working in three shifts along with over 50 workers and heavy machinery to restore the tracks. According to the safety inspectors, it will take a few more days to restore the track since soil is loosening with every rain.
“We have excavated not less than 1,000 tonnes of mud and boulders,” an inspector said. “The work was hampered by water gushing under the passage embankments.”
GR Rai, who worked on this line when the route was being laid, told DNA that it would not be easy to set right the problem. “Soil on this coastal stretch is highly susceptible to erosion during rains. The top soil is highly porous and is soft till a depth of 25-30 metres. This results in landslides during monsoon.”
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