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Landslips force Konkan Railway suspension

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

Konkan Railway suspended operations between Roha and Mangalore till July 25, for the first time since it became fully operational on January 26, 1998, due to landslides, causing massive damage to tracks.

Besides the unprecedented downpour in the Konkan region since July 3, the railway ministry cited six quakes in the area between March 12 and May 25, with the epicentre at Koyna, as another reason for the precaution.

After inspecting the track between Chiplun in Maharashtra and Canacona in south Goa, Railway Minister Bangaru Laxman claimed that though there was no visible damage to the track, traffic was suspended as a precaution.

The situation worsened on July 6, when a landslide at Galgibag in Canacona derailed the Mangala Express, leaving seven injured. There was another landslide at Balli, near Margao, the same day. Balli was hit once again the next day, with a landslide displacing the track. On the same day, there was a similar landslide on the Kudal-Sawantwadi section in Maharashtra, stopping trains, even coming to Margao from Bombay.

While Laxman is hopeful of restoring the Balli stretch by July 13, he felt the real bottleneck would be near Chiplun, at Savarda, where a similar landslide occurred on July 9. In fact, this stretch has been a problem from the onset of the monsoons.

While over 700 Konkan Railway Corporation personnel, working round the clock, have completed repairs in 33 spots, with 10 excavators, Laxman said before leaving for Delhi that this opportunity was also being availed of to tackle in advance five more similar cuttings along the track.

KRC MD B Rajaram said that at least four to five monsoons form a stabilisation period for any railway line, though he admitted that this year's damage was massive, mainly due to soft soil in the Konkan region.

With operations being suspended, the KRC will suffer a massive loss.

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