CR plans gabion wall to prevent future mudslides

The Central Railway (CR) is weighing the possibility of installing a gabion wall between the Kasara-Kalyan stretch, starting between Asangaon and Vasind. Officials claim that this stretch, where a mudslide was responsible for the derailment of nine coaches of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express on Tuesday, has no previous history of mudslides. Thus, they did not expect such an incident.

"We will inspect the entire Kalyan-Kasara stretch once we restore the services. We are also mulling over having a gabion wall fitted on this stretch to prevent such mudslides in the future," said Ravindra Goyal, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), Central Railway.

Sources said that they are in discussions with the Konkan Railway as well, which has installed gabion walls at several locations on their 750 km route. This would simply mean that stones and boulders will be placed on the mud and will be contained using a wire mesh.

The officials said that at present, due to heavy rains, water seeped into the mud which then became loose and flowed out as slush onto the tracks. They were under the assumption that the green cover over the mud will prevent such mudslides.

CR officials refuted the theory that faulty work on the third line of the Kalyan-Kasara stretch is the reason behind the mud slush that derailed Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express. Meanwhile, the railways have stopped local train services between Asangaon and Vasind for another 48 hours on one line. Due to heavy rains, mudslides continue to occur at this spot. The railways are running special train services between Kasara and Asangaon while trains to Kasara will terminate at Titwala.

On August 29, the engine and nine coaches of Duronto Express derailed between Asangaon and Vasind stations.

The CR has also initiated an inquiry into the incident.