Central Railway deploys 210 pumps, completes monsoon flood mitigation across Mumbai Division

Central Railway has completed extensive monsoon preparedness measures across its Mumbai Division including drainage upgrades flood mitigation works and safety improvements in ghat sections to minimise disruptions to train services during the rainy seasonAccording to Central Railway 117 locations across the Mumbai Division have been identified as vulnerable to waterlogging where water levels can rise above the rail tracks during periods of intense rainfallTo address the issue the railway has deployed 210 heavyduty dewatering pumps with capacities ranging from 125 HP to 100 HP It has also undertaken extensive cleaning of drains culverts and bridge waterways to ensure the smooth flow of stormwaterFlood mitigation projects underway at critical locationsCentral Railway said it identified 18 major floodingprone locations for targeted engineering interventions through both temporary and permanent solutionsWork has already been completed at six critical locations including SionKurla ChunabhattiKurla VikhroliKanjurmarg Road and KurlaTilaknagar Additional longterm projects involving bridge augmentation track raising microtunnelling and drainage improvements are being carried out in phases and are expected to continue until 2028One of the key infrastructure projects completed this year is the Thane Microtunnelling Project executed at an estimated cost of Rs 550 croreAccording to Central Railway the project involved laying two 110metre reinforced cement concrete pipelines beneath the railway tracks using microtunnelling technology The project is expected to resolve the longstanding flooding issue at Thane station where water levels had previously risen above rail level during heavy rain leading to operational disruptionsBridge upgrades and drainage improvements continueCentral Railway said bridge rehabilitation and waterway augmentation works are also being undertaken to strengthen the drainage networkDuring 202425 and 202526 the railway completed 42 bridge augmentation projects with additional works planned during the current yearSafety measures strengthened in vulnerable ghat sectionsSpecial focus has also been placed on the ghat sections between KalyanLonavalaKarjat and KasaraIgatpuri which are susceptible to landslides boulder falls washouts and slope failures during the monsoonAccording to Central Railway several modern protective systems have been installed including rockfall barriers boulder netting boulder fall fencing tunnel portals gabion structures strengthened retaining walls and bouldercatching sumpsThe railway said these measures have been implemented with assistance from Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd and technical inputs from the Indian Institute of TechnologyCentral Railway said the protection works carried out over the past three years have significantly reduced incidents of boulder falls and weatherrelated disruptions in the ghat sections It added that the MID Line Ghat section remained operational throughout the 2024 and 2025 monsoon seasons without any complete interruption to train traffic allowing passenger and freight services to continueCoordination with civic bodies for monsoon responseApart from infrastructure upgrades Central Railway said it has completed largescale premonsoon maintenance works including cleaning culverts desilting side and catchwater drains carrying out track maintenance and lifting at vulnerable locations inspecting tunnels leakproofing station platforms and railway buildings and deploying monsoon patrol personnel in sensitive areasThe railway is also coordinating with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai Thane Municipal Corporation KalyanDombivli Municipal Corporation and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation through joint inspections and premonsoon meetings to improve flood mitigation and emergency response