Alok Kansal, General Manager Central and Western Railway in presence of Arun Kumar, Director General, RPF, Railway Board, New Delhi briefed the press at Talao Pali Lake, Thane on monsoon preparedness of railways. He briefed about the pre-monsoon action taken over Mumbai suburban sections of Central and Western Railways like 7 additional waterways by micro-tunneling method at Kurla-Vidyavihar, Sandhurst Road and Masjid, Bandra, Vasai-Nallasopara; 4 additional waterways through RCC box insertion at Vadala-Ravli, Panvel-Karjat, Badlapur-Vangani and Kurla-Tilaknagar: customized solutions taken for flooding spots of previous monsoons like construction of drains along tracks, retaining walls to prevent ingress of water, about 4 lakh cubic meter muck removal, etc. He said these infrastructure upgradations have improved suburban operations in past few years. Kansal said that recently Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyalji reviewed the monsoon preparations and emphasized on adopting a holistic and long term plan. He suggested Railways to partner with Institutions like IIT Mumbai to study the efficiency of technical and civil work initiatives of Railways and local municipal corporations in handling monsoon rains.
Arun Kumar, Director General RPF while addressing said that suburban railways is lifeline of Mumbai. He said our first act in such emergencies is to ensure passengers do not panic. Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal while reviewing the monsoon preparations was impressed by the Railway’s Flood Relief Team at Mumbai which uses boats with their force personnel. The teams are trained by NDRF for such exigencies. He also said that Railway Teams are ready for any such incidents and they are the first to reach and provide rescue and relief operations.
Alok Kansal and Arun Kumar have released the SOP for usage of boat and outboard motor by Railway Flood Relief Team. They inspected the Mock Drill conducted by RFRT at Talaopali Lake demonstrating rescue and relief of passengers in a train held up in waterlogged area. They also interacted with the RFRT personnel and encouraged them.
