Title - CR: Kurla, Vidyavihar belt could get flooded

Be prepared to face more hardships travelling by Central Railway this monsoon. CR general manager Subodh Jain on Friday admitted that there could be a possibility of water-logging on tracks on the Kurla-Vidyavihar belt during heavy rains as the nearby nullah does not have the capacity to drain out water accumulated on tracks, especially during high tide. “Another factor could be rapid urbanization in the area near tracks, which has raised the adjacent ground level. This may also lead to water accumulation on tracks,” he said.
    On Thursday, there were signal failures in the Kurla area as nullahs overflowed due to the heavy downpour. This led to cancellation of trains and the suburban services got badly hit.
    Said Jain, “On Thursday, the high tide level was not alarming, but we still faced a problem. We had to cancel 148 trains, which is less than 10% of the total trains run (1,536 services). But on four to five days during this monsoon season, you can expect 30% of the trains being cancelled.” Jain, though, said efforts were being taken to widen the nullah and take measures to prevent any water-logging or signal failures. A long-term solution, said Jain, would be to set up elevated corridors on the CST-Kalyan and Churchgate-Virar routes.
    “We are taking adequate precautionary measures,” another senior railway official said.
    The CR assured that it plans to use FM radio service to inform passengers about delays or cancellation, besides frequent announcements at railway stations.