Panaji, Jul 24: Traffic on the South Western Railway (SWR) route continues to remain affected for the second consecutive day on Saturday, a day after two landslides occurred on the Goa-Karnataka border besides the derailment of a train in the section, an official said.
The landslides took place on Friday morning in the ghat (hilly) section of Hubballi division of SWR- between Dudhsagar and Sonaulim, and between Caranzol and Dudhsagar.
A senior official of the SWR said that a train running between Mangaluru Junction and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai, which had been diverted from the Konkan Railway route due to overflowing Vashishti river near Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, derailed on the SWR's Dudhsagar-Sonaulim section in Goa on Friday morning.
"The engine and the first general coach derailed. But no passenger was reported to be injured," he said.
Due to this, the train traffic on the route is yet to resume, he added.
Another train, Hazrat Nizamuddin-Vasco Da Gama that was travelling towards Vasco town in Goa was detained between Caranzol and Dudhsagar in Goa, the SWR said in a statement.
The SWR said it had already taken several contingency measures before the start of the rainy season. These measures were taken at suitable stations for any exigency in the ghat section during heavy rainfall, it said.
"As part that, JCB and other machines, and wagon loaded with boulders were kept ready at Castle Rock, Tinaighat and Kulem. They have been pressed into service to the spot of landslide along with the tram of trained technicians to carry out restoration of track/train services at the earliest," the SWR said.
Vasco railway police inspector Rajan Nigale said that the three scheduled trains on the SWR have been diverted/cancelled or diverted for a day though the debris on the track has been cleared.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Chikkaballapur (Karnataka) (PTI): A 70-year-old man died after his car caught fire, leaving his body charred, police said on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Uday Kumar, a resident of Raghuvanahalli on Kanakapura Road in Bengaluru, they said.
The incident occurred near Achepalli Cross in Bagepalli taluk of Chikkaballapur district on Sunday when he was returning after visiting his mother in his native place, police said.
Local police were alerted by passersby who noticed the car on fire. Fire tenders rushed to the spot and doused the blaze. However, the flames had spread rapidly through the vehicle, resulting in his death. Later, his charred body was recovered from the car, police said.
Citing preliminary investigation, a senior police officer said it appeared to be a case of suicide as investigators did not find any evidence indicating an accident or a mechanical fault in the car that could have triggered the fire.
"However, teams have collected samples and other evidence, and further investigation is underway to ascertain whether there was any technical fault that led to the fire," the officer said.
