When Rain Mars Enjoying Scenic Train Ride in Nilgiris

OOTY: The heavy rains owing to the influence of the northeast monsoon, which has begun to show its force, leading to minor landslips, uprooting of trees and bringing down boulders in the Nilgiris, has also taken a toll on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR).

The landslip and falling of boulders on the NMR track between Coonoor and Kallar stretch due to heavy downpour on Thursday night forced the cancellation of NMR services between Mettupalayam and Coonoor on Friday, which made the railway staff sweat it out to clear the mess and restore NMR train services in the racked track in the challenging terrain of the Coonoor-Kallar stretch.

The monsoon season, commencing in October, always challenges NMR and the stability of the slopes along the 46-km-long NMR track amidst the scenic wooded zone as the NMR track often falls victim to the heavy rains. Around three decades ago, NMR train services would be given a lay-off during the NE monsoon season on a precautionary measure as the technological advancement for relief operations was minimal then.

In the present era, though technology, cyber mode aids and transport facilities come in handy to take up relief measures quickly whenever the NMR track suffers during heavy rains, NMR continues to suffer from rain and train conflict. Sometimes it is frequent, depending upon the downpour, as falling of boulders on the track often prove to be dangerous that calls for more labour to clear the mess and restore the track.

Rohit Jain, member of the Salem Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee, said the time has come to hold a detailed study on the slope stability along the NMR track to evolve mechanisms to check landslips and falling of boulders on the track.

“The railway ministry should engage geology and geography experts to study the slope stability along every kilometre of NMR to infer what might be causing the landslip and to take necessary corrective measures and remove dangerous boulders. A scientific study and analysis is needed to ascertain whether any disturbances in the landscapes in the upper reaches of the Coonoor–Burliar limits result in the weakening of the soil texture, leading to landslips along the NMR track. Moreover, Southern Railway should coordinate with the meteorology department to take necessary advisory for the operation of NMR trains during the NE monsoon season which is known for landslides and other damage due to heavy to very heavy rainfall on the Coonoor-Burliar-Mettupalayam stretch,” he added.