Mumbai: The Central Railway (CR) is planning to appoint a permanent team for the sole purpose of pruning trees and, if necessary, cutting them in all sections, while the Western Railway (WR) has identified trees to be cut. According to railway officials, at least one case of a tree falling on the overhead cables or on local trains and disrupting services is reported every month.
According to a senior CR official, a team surveyed the length of the Main Line to check trees that may cause damage. “We found there are many trees located close to the tracks, and often they are the main reason for disruption of local train services. We are planning to float a tender soon and appoint a dedicated team to work only on trimming and cutting trees on the Central, Harbour and Trans-Harbuor lines.”
He said the voltage has increased in the AC lines which leads to an explosion if a tree falls on the overhead wires. Dangerous trees are identified, but due to shortage of staff, this is not acted upon. “Every month, we report a minimum of one case where train services are disrupted by falling trees. The team will be divided into smaller ones and will be deployed in different areas.”
The CR is planning to put together a 25-strong team, who will be hired on contract basis and will be from the private sector. Sunil Udasi, Chief PRO, CR, said, “As of now, our staff does the work of trimming and cutting trees in all sections.”
The Western Railway has identified nearly 1,200 trees which are critically ill and need to be cut. Railway authorities do several surveys throughout the year, which increase in frequency during the monsoon. In a recent incident, a branch fell on the overhead cables between Mahalaxmi and Lower Parel stations and disrupted train services for nearly 60 minutes during peak hour.
“After this incident, we conducted a survey and revised the number of trees to be cut permanently from eight to 1,200. We are in the process to cut 40 trees,” Mukul Jain, Divisional Railway Manager, Western Railway, said.
Most trees posing a danger to uninterrupted services are beyond Andheri on tjhe Western Line and. On the Central Line, they are at Byculla and beyond Kalyan.
