Mumbai (Maharashtra) [भारत]July 6 (ANI): Heavy rains triggered landslides in the Mumbai-Pune Ghat section on Monday, severely disrupting rail and road connectivity between the two cities. Several train services were canceled or diverted after stones fell on railway tracks, while traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the old Mumbai-Pune Highway was suspended until further notice after a major landslide.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav reviewed the situation and said that despite continuous heavy rains, restoration work is going on. The minister said, "Reviewed the situation arising out of massive landslide in Mumbai-Pune Ghat section and falling of stones on railway tracks. The team is fully prepared for restoration. Heavy rains are expected today also. Officials of both Western and Central Railways have been asked to work as a team to ensure early restoration of all train services."
According to Central Railway, continuous heavy rains in the Southeast Ghats section between Karjat and Lonavala led to landslides between Thakurwadi (TKW) and Monkey Hill Loop Cabin (MHLC) on the Up Main Line of Mumbai Division, leading to cancellation and diversion of several train services.
The canceled trains include CSMT-Pune Indrayani Express, Pune-Solapur Intercity Express, Solapur-Pune Intercity Express, Pune-CSMT Indrayani Express, CSMT-Pune Intercity Express, Pune-CSMT Intercity Express, CSMT-Pune Deccan Express, Pune-CSMT Deccan Express, Pune-CSMT Deccan Queen, CSMT-Pune Deccan Queen, Pune-CSMT Pragati Express, CSMT-Pune Pragati Express, Pune-CSMT Sinhagarh Express, CSMT-Pune Sinhagarh Express, CSMT-Dhule Express and Dhule-CSMT Express.
Several long distance trains including Ahmedabad-Kolhapur Express, Indore-Daund Express, Ahmedabad-Pune Duronto Express, Bidar-CSMT Express, Hazur Sahib Nanded-Panvel Express, Charlapalli-Indore Humsafar Express, LTT-SMVT Bengaluru Express, Daund-Gwalior Superfast Express and Chennai Egmore-CSMT Mail have also been diverted via alternate routes.
Central Railways said local train services are running on all four corridors. Services on the main line are running late by six to eight minutes, while Harbor Line trains are running late by about four minutes. Services on the Transharbour and Uran-Belapur lines are running as per schedule.
Road traffic was also badly affected after a major landslide occurred on the missing link section near Khandala exit of Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The lane going to Mumbai has been completely closed. According to initial information, no casualties have been reported and efforts are on to reopen the route.
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said, "A landslide has occurred near the exit of Tunnel 2 of the Pune to Mumbai Lane of the Pune to Mumbai Connecting Link Road, amid extremely heavy rainfall. Due to safety reasons, traffic has been diverted since 4 am. We are continuously monitoring the situation in close coordination with the Highway Traffic Police."
The District Information Office appealed to people to avoid traveling between Pune and Mumbai. The District Information Office said in its statement, "Due to landslides and continuous heavy rains, traffic movement on both Pune-Mumbai Expressway and Old Mumbai-Pune Highway has been severely affected. Traffic in both directions (Pune-Mumbai and Mumbai-Pune) has been stopped till further notice. Citizens are requested not to undertake any travel between Pune and Mumbai until further instructions are issued. Those planning travel are advised to postpone their journey. We request your cooperation in the interest of public safety."
Meanwhile, according to reports, Mumbai's iconic dabbawalas suspended services for the day due to heavy rains and disruption in train operations. Mumbai Dabbawala Association issued a notice saying that food delivery and return pickup operations will remain closed as train services on Western Railways have been severely affected, making deliveries difficult. (ANI)
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