MUMBAI: A major disaster was averted on Monday night when a piece of track was found placed over tracks near Kalamboli Railway Station on the Panvel-Diva section here, 15 days after a similar incident took place at the same section of railways.
“Train driver of the Pune-Santragachi Express realised that the train has hit something on the tracks and applied emergency breaks. A piece of rail was found placed on the tracks which was dragged to a few meters,” Sachin Bhalode, senior divisional security commissioner, told the Express.
A case has been registered against unidentified persons at Kalamboli Police Station in Navi Mumbai. The officials said a major disaster was averted as the train was running at a slow speed. Had the train been running at top speed, it could have resulted in a major accident, said an official.
A number of south-bound trains, including the Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains operate along this stretch.
It may be noted that a similar disaster was averted by an alert loco pilot on January 24 near Diva Railway Station. The railways had roped in central intelligence agencies along with the GRP and RPF to investigate the incident back then.
“We have already taken a number of steps to prevent such incidents in the future, including increased patrolling,” divisional railway manager of Central Railway Ravindra Goyal said.
The railways had been insisting on construction of compound walls to prevent people from entering the rail tracks in Mumbai Suburban range. There are several hurdles including illegal constructions along the rail tracks which are to be removed by respective civic bodies, said the railway officials.
However, activists hold the railway officials responsible for carelessly allowing several pieces of tracks and other metal objects to rust along the rail tracks. According to a recent estimate, at least 6000 tonnes of rail pieces are lying rusting along the rail tracks in Mumbai division alone.