For the first time in 111 years the Sandhurst Road station will get a stormwater drain passing below the tracks and even the British era bridge. This, which is said to be among the longest sewer drain in Mumbai's suburban rail line, is 400 meter long and has a diameter of 1,800 millimeter.
For all these years, there were side drains from where water was flowing all the way but as the area on Sandhurst Road-Masjid are low-lying, every year there was severe water logging. According to officials from the Central Railway (CR), they started work last year post monsoon after getting all clearances from relevant authorities. Last monsoon, trains were stuck on this stretch due to severe water logging on rail tracks and rail authorities had to send their RPF staff for rescue.
“The biggest challenge was to take this 1,800mm diameter of stormwater drain under the 100-year-old rail bridge. The alignment was prepared in such a way that it bypassed between pillars of this bridge and went 2-4 meter below the rail lines,” said a Central Railway official. “At 400 meter in length, this is among the longest drain dug through micro-tunnelling method”.
The rail bridge was built in 1921 and since then this will be the first time that a huge drainage line shall pass beneath it. This drainage line built at cost of Rs 10 crore will now carry all the water right from the rail tracks from the west towards the east below the roads as well all the way till the outfall taking water to the Arabian Sea.
The CR officials said that the work will help them keep water logging at bay this monsoon as such large culvert carry water faster. The condition here is that the rains should not be more than 50mm per hour. Last year the CR had completed similar works on stretches of Sion-Kurla-Vidyavihar as well where such large drainage systems were created through micro-tunnelling. Its length is just over 100 meter or so.
Earlier last month the CR and BMC held a joint meeting to discuss the status of various pre-monsoon works. This also included the status of notices sent to slum dwellers along rail lines about which Free Press Journal reported it. This year the CR authorities will be placing 157 pumps at various locations to drain out water from tracks.
