Month after collapse, troublesome Konkan tunnel up and running

Over a month after a tunnel collapse the Konkan Railway KR announced late on Tuesday that it has been fixed and services have been restored The tunnel has been reinforced with steel plates and heavy webs A fivemeter portion of the tunnel wall in Pernem village North Goa had collapsed due to heavy rains on August 6The restoration work of Pernem tunnel at km 38467 between Madure and Pernem stations of Karwar region has been successfully completed The track fit certificate was issued at 10 pm on September 15 and traffic has been restored Six trains which were either diverted via Madgaon LondaMirajPunePanvel or cancelled have been restored to their original route a senior official saidThe tunnel has been a challenge since the completion of its construction in January 1998Initially it was expected that the line could be made operational by August 20 but it was later extended to September 10 and then 15Rain slowed repairsHeavy rain and the pandemic proved to be a challenge It was highly difficult to mobilise resources as the task required skilled and unskilled manpower material and heavy machinery like excavators Hydras concrete cutters compressors etc in a short period The rectification work had to be carried out in a very confined place within the limited tunnel width of around 5 metres in a slushy environment with continuous seepage at the collapsed location There was frequent rainfall even after the collapse for about 15 days resulting in heavy seepage which necessitated high caution working Konkan Railways Chief Public Relations Officer LK Verma saidVerma said a different rectification methodology was adopted for the repairs It involved cutting the collapsed concrete wall and the damaged formation below the track under slushy conditionsseepage followed by rebuilding it with new fabricated structural steel beams providing lining with heavy steel plates and site weldingKeeping COVID19 at bayThe bigger challenge was also to keep COVID19 at bay Screeningtesting was done twice for the workforce and every day thermal screening along with checking of oxygen levels was done Footoperated sanitisers soaps and a KRCL doctor and health workers were made availablePernem received an average rainfall of 4500 mm as on September 15 which is more than Goas annual average of 2900 mmOldtimers and KR records point to how Pernem tunnel has always been a problem It delayed the entire KR project for five months KR has 91 tunnels collectively up to 84 km in length However tunnels totalling 3500 metres in length on weak soil mainly in Goa and Karnataka posed the most problems during constructionKR to go electric from NovInternal planning in the Konkan Railway is aiming at completing line electrification and charging of lines in a staggered manner starting November The process is expected to be completed by June 2021 The tentative timeline of charging includes the RohaRatnagiri section starting November the RatnagiriVerna section between May and July the VernaKarwar section between March and April and the KarwarBijoor section till Thokur by January 202106No of trains that were diverted after the collapseKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news