The Konkan Railway route came to a standstill for a second time in less than a week after a landslide hit the track outside a tunnel between Vinhere (Raigad) and Divan Khawati (Ratnagiri), leaving passengers stranded for over 15 hours. In the latest rescue efforts, the Konkan Railway has arranged state transport busses for stranded passengers. The landslide occurred at around 5 pm on Sunday.
As a result of the landslide, the Konkan railway has cancelled, short-terminated, diverted and rescheduled several trains since Sunday evening. Meanwhile, the restoration work is also taking time due to torrential rains. The officials said, "The restoration process is taking longer due to heavy rains and muck coming onto the tracks."
Waterlogging led to traffic disruption
This is the second time that the Konkan Railway route has been disrupted in less than a week's time. While the current disruption is due to landslides, the last disruption was due to severe waterlogging, both triggered by heavy monsoon rains. Earlier on July 10, the route was affected due to severe waterlogging in the Pernem tunnel in the Madure-Pernem section in Goa amid rains. The traffic on this route was disrupted for 18 hours. At first, the movement of trains on the coastal route was first suspended at 2:35 pm on Tuesday (July 9) when it was noticed that water was oozing in the Pernem tunnel in the Madure-Pernem section amid heavy rains.
Till night the waterlogging was cleared and movement was restored. The traffic clearance was given at 10.13 pm on Tuesday night. However, the water again started seeping inside the tunnel with a greater intensity at 2:59 am on Wednesday leading to the suspension of traffic by KRCL. According to Deputy General Manager Baban Ghatge, some trains were cancelled while others were diverted. The movement was fully restored after 18 hours.
Torrential monsoon rains in Konkan region
Notably, the Konkan region has witnessed a devastating downpour this season. In the latest update, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) states that Konkan and Goa region received a rainfall of 24 cm in the last 24 hours till 8:30 am on Monday. Moreover, the weather department has also issued a Red Alert for Raigad and an Orange Alert for Ratnagiri in the Konkan region.
(With PTI Inputs)
