Mumbai: The first heavy rains on Saturday did cause trouble throughout the city but two key locations on the Central Railway (CR), which usually witnesses water logging in the monsoon, were spared.

This year, the CR authorities finished long-pending works at two vital locations on their suburban system namely Sion, and between Kurla and Vidyavihar railway stations, to keep them flood-free. And the efforts appear to be bearing fruit.

According to the officials, work on these locations had been underway for more than five-six years. And now that it is ready, it is expected to ease the flow of water from the rail lines into Mithi River.

On Saturday, according to railway engineers, the intervention did behave the way it was meant to though they are waiting for heavier rains in the days to come to understand how these works have panned out.

On Saturday, there was no water logging on the railway lines and the CR officials stated that train operations were normal. Broadly, there are at least nine vulnerable locations, between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Thane, prone to water logging. Of these, the situation at Sion and Kurla-Vidyavihar is critical as these are the points that inconvenience lakhs of rail commuters during monsoon.

At Sion, the CR authorities finally commissioned a wide culvert passing below the rail lines and connected it to a sewage drain of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This work has been underway for over five years and for the first time this monsoon, they will be able to track its usefulness.

“The two will intersect at almost 90 degrees at the location. This work will ensure that water flooding the road will not enter the rail system until the floodgates of Mithi River are closed. During rains, the water from the tracks will flow straight into Mithi River,” explained a senior railway official.

Every monsoon, whenever it rains heavily, the tracks between Matunga-Sion-Kurla are waterlogged and either it halts the train operations, or the trains run at a restricted speed.

Crisscrossing the rail lines, there are huge storm water drains, which are usually filled with garbage and muck despite several rounds of cleaning. Moreover, the road is slightly on an elevation, and this leads to water’s ingress onto the rail network.

According to CR officials, the work at Kurla and between Kurla and Vidyavihar was crucial. This too has been going on for years and this time around, they have created additional channels for water to flow which could help in case of heavy rains.

At Kurla, they have cleared two rows of a wide garbage-filled drain that crosses all six to seven rail lines on Main and Harbour plus the yard, to a stretch of over 500-600 metres. There are apparently four rows in this drainage line.

“This water channel is filled with garbage and debris and was shut for years. It was emitting foul gases and was a huge task cleaning it. We managed to clear two rows of this drainage line and opened for water to flow. We will be able to see its benefit when there is heavier rain,” said another CR official.

Between Kurla and Vidyavihar stations, the CR authorities broke open blockages in the culverts that will ease the flow of water. All these years, the water used to flow onto the other side only when it overflowed but now, the obstruction has been removed. However, as the Mahul pumping station is not ready, the scope of preventing water logging completely will remain an issue.

The CR officials claim that they will be monitoring the situation throughout this monsoon. Some of the locations, which see water logging during heavy rains are Masjid Road, Sandhurst Road, Byculla, Parel-Dadar, Sion, Sion-Kurla, Kurla, Kurla-Vidyavihar, Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg and Thane.

There are micro tunneling works that are going on at some locations of Masjid and Sandhurst Road. Large underground rainwater storage tanks are being created between Parel-Dadar while heavy-duty pumps are also installed at these locations for removing water out of the rail lines.

Mumbai: The first heavy rains on Saturday did cause trouble throughout the city but two key locations on the Central Railway (CR), which usually witnesses water logging in the monsoon, were spared.

This year, the CR authorities finished long-pending works at two vital locations on their suburban system namely Sion, and between Kurla and Vidyavihar railway stations, to keep them flood-free. And the efforts appear to be bearing fruit.

According to the officials, work on these locations had been underway for more than five-six years. And now that it is ready, it is expected to ease the flow of water from the rail lines into Mithi River.

On Saturday, according to railway engineers, the intervention did behave the way it was meant to though they are waiting for heavier rains in the days to come to understand how these works have panned out.

On Saturday, there was no water logging on the railway lines and the CR officials stated that train operations were normal. Broadly, there are at least nine vulnerable locations, between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Thane, prone to water logging. Of these, the situation at Sion and Kurla-Vidyavihar is critical as these are the points that inconvenience lakhs of rail commuters during monsoon.

At Sion, the CR authorities finally commissioned a wide culvert passing below the rail lines and connected it to a sewage drain of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This work has been underway for over five years and for the first time this monsoon, they will be able to track its usefulness.

“The two will intersect at almost 90 degrees at the location. This work will ensure that water flooding the road will not enter the rail system until the floodgates of Mithi River are closed. During rains, the water from the tracks will flow straight into Mithi River,” explained a senior railway official.

Every monsoon, whenever it rains heavily, the tracks between Matunga-Sion-Kurla are waterlogged and either it halts the train operations, or the trains run at a restricted speed.

Crisscrossing the rail lines, there are huge storm water drains, which are usually filled with garbage and muck despite several rounds of cleaning. Moreover, the road is slightly on an elevation, and this leads to water’s ingress onto the rail network.

According to CR officials, the work at Kurla and between Kurla and Vidyavihar was crucial. This too has been going on for years and this time around, they have created additional channels for water to flow which could help in case of heavy rains.

At Kurla, they have cleared two rows of a wide garbage-filled drain that crosses all six to seven rail lines on Main and Harbour plus the yard, to a stretch of over 500-600 metres. There are apparently four rows in this drainage line.

“This water channel is filled with garbage and debris and was shut for years. It was emitting foul gases and was a huge task cleaning it. We managed to clear two rows of this drainage line and opened for water to flow. We will be able to see its benefit when there is heavier rain,” said another CR official.

Between Kurla and Vidyavihar stations, the CR authorities broke open blockages in the culverts that will ease the flow of water. All these years, the water used to flow onto the other side only when it overflowed but now, the obstruction has been removed. However, as the Mahul pumping station is not ready, the scope of preventing water logging completely will remain an issue.

The CR officials claim that they will be monitoring the situation throughout this monsoon. Some of the locations, which see water logging during heavy rains are Masjid Road, Sandhurst Road, Byculla, Parel-Dadar, Sion, Sion-Kurla, Kurla, Kurla-Vidyavihar, Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg and Thane.

There are micro tunneling works that are going on at some locations of Masjid and Sandhurst Road. Large underground rainwater storage tanks are being created between Parel-Dadar while heavy-duty pumps are also installed at these locations for removing water out of the rail lines.