As monsoons hit Mumbai with full glory, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that railways in India and Mumbai needs to be fully prepared for the monsoon. Piyush Goyal said this while reviewing the preparations and road map of Mumbai Suburban Railways in having all contingency solutions in rainy season.
The Minister examined current status of vulnerable areas and reviewed plans for smooth functioning of trains. He said that railways is committed to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to Mumbaikars as monsoon begins.
While reviewing the preparedness of the Suburban Railways, the Minister advised the railways to partner with Institutions like IIT Mumbai to study the efficiency of technical and civil work initiatives of railways in handling monsoon rains.
"Innovation and hard work must go together to ensure that Railway services continue to operate safely and in an uninterrupted manner," he added.
Last year during monsoons, flooding spot of previous monsoon were identified and customized solution were devised for each spot.
"In order to have real time and authentic rain data four numbers automatic rain gauge (ARG) have now been installed in association with IMD and ten numbers installed by WR independently. Besides, number of pumps provided on track and depots including sewerage and submersible pumps have been increased by 33%," he added.
He said, drones were used for survey and monitoring of cleaning of nallah in Borivali-Virar section and suction/de-sludging machines were used to ensure deep cleaning of culverts. Besides, adoption of new micro tunneling method for construction of culverts was taken up to ensure that water logging is minimised.
