Rlys, civic body review monsoon preparedness works in city

MUMBAI: Senior railway officials on Monday said that premonsoon works, to ensure heavy rains don't stall train traffic in the metropolis and adjoining regions, had begun and a review was carried out by the civic body chief and general managers of Western and Central Railways.

The work, officials said, involves the cleaning of drains and culverts that run beneath the rail tracks, removal of muck, trimming of branches of trees, surveying hilly areas for loose boulders and provision to drain out excess water from low-lying rail areas in case of heavy monsoon rains.

"The Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner and GMs of WR and CR have reviewed monsoon preparedness works. The civic chief has promised all help to the railways to ensure that heavy monsoons do not disrupt train traffic," a senior civic official said.

Chief spokesperson of CR, Sunil Udasi, said, "The preparatory work for monsoon started from February-March 2018. We have cleaned 79 culverts. An additional opening at Tilaknagar has been provided to curb flooding in Kurla area."

He said that 25 spots within the jurisdiction of CR's Mumbai division had been identified for immediate attention.

"We have also requested the BMC to provide pumps that have a water-draining capacity of 1,000 cubic metres per hour at Kurla and Mukhyaadhyapak nullah at Sion," he said.

He said that the BMC had assured the railways that it would take action to ensure water from civic areas was not discharged onto railway territory, especially near Sandhurst Road station. "The BMC has also promised that it will get one building, deemed unsafe, at Sandhurst Road station vacated before the monsoon," Udasi said. WR chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar said that GM AK Gupta had met civic chief and works like cleaning of storm water drains, clearing of garbage were discussed.