Alert Crew Take Timely Action To Save Passengers Lives

-

Swift action by the loco pilot Ranjeet Kumar, assistant loco pilot Hashid K and guard Shailender Kumar of train 01134 (Mangaluru Jn - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai) averted a major disaster.  The incident took place around 6.10am on July 23 when the train was proceeding from Kulem towards Castle Rock up the Ghat at km 39/800 near the Dudhsagar-Sonaulim section. Ranjeet Kumar noticed that the mud was slipping ahead on the track from the sidewalls of the hill beside the track.

Sensing danger, the loco pilot immediately applied emergency brakes and brought the train to a stop. Due to mud and soil mixed boulders on the track due to continuous very heavy rainfall, the engine got derailed along with two sets of wheels, despite the immediate braking. He informed the station master of Dudhsagar about the same, to give a message to the control office, Hubballi. Upon noticing the emergency brake being applied, Shailder Kumar applied hand brakes to the brake van.

Parallelly, the guard and loco pilot instructed the assistant loco pilots of the leading and banking engines to place detonators at a stipulated distance on the track at both rear and front, and also secured the train by tying chains to the track, placing wheel-skids etc as per standard safety protocol. Ranjeet and Shailender noticed that from the steep cutting of the hill beside the track, slush and mud were also falling on the coaches immediately behind the front engine. 

In order to ensure the protection of passengers, they shifted them from the first three coaches to the rear coaches, uncoupled these coaches from the rest of the train. Displaying alertness, and presence of mind, the crew took instruction from their senior officers in Hubballi divisional control office and utilised the rear (banking) engine to pull the train with 345 passengers back to Kulem station. Shailender Kumar accompanied by loco pilot SD Meena, assistant loco pilot SK Saini took the train safely.

Ranjeet Kumar

Hashid K

Shailender Kumar
Ranjeet Kumar and his assistant Hashid stayed back with the derailed engine near the spot to assist in restoration.

BACKGROUND OF THE GHAT SECTION

The Castle Rock-Kulem Ghat section is 27kms long, It is a single line rail section passing through western Ghats in the uninhabited territory through a forested area. The entire ghat section has a steep gradient (1 in 37) and trains are pushed with engines in the rear (for providing sufficient horsepower) in addition to the engines in front. The stations between Castle Rock and Kulem, namely Caranzol, Dudhsagar and Sonaulim are connected only by rail with no road connectivity. 

This is challenging terrain. On July 22 and 23, this section witnessed an intense rainfall of 640 mm in 48 hours, which resulted in land-slide. For displaying courage and exemplary presence of mind in taking swift action to shift passengers to safer coaches, and transport the train back to Kulem, Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, SWR appreciated the crew and announced a cash reward. The crew of this train acted as ‘first responder’ at the site, even before the rescue team arrived, resulting in the saving lives of passengers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dr Prabhu Set To Score A 'Perfect 10' As Dean Of KMC, Mangaluru

-
Image
He was the first-ever alumnus to become the Dean of Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Mangaluru on December 1, 2011. A little less than a decade to that date and come June 1, Dr  M Venkataraya Prabhu will set a record of sorts to excel all his predecessors – most of whom were his own teachers – to become the longest-serving Dean in the history of KMC, Mangaluru. In 2011, little did Dr Prabhu know that he would emulate his illustrious teachers. June 1 will Dr Prabhu exceed the previous record of late Prof KP Ganesan (9-1/2-years). In reaching here, Dr Prabhu has crossed the  6-year stint by Prof M V Chari,  7-years of Prof M P Pai, 7-1/2-years of Prof  B M Hegde, and 8-1/2 years of Prof GD Veliath, all of whom he reveres. Dr M Venkataraya Prabhu, Dean, KMC, Mangaluru Attributing the greatness and reputation that the college enjoys today to these illustrious teachers, Dr Prabhu also a ttributes his present stature to the founder of KMC Late Dr TMA Pai from whom he received a baptism by fir
Read more

MAHE student team wins MHRD's National Innovation Contest (NIC) 2020

-
Image
Dr Mahima Mishra and her team have bagged the prestigious National Innovation Contest (NIC) 2020 conducted by the ministry of education.  Dr Mahima Mishra from Manipal College of Dental Sciences (MCODS) and her team secured the finalist position and won the contest. After this phenomenal achievement, Dr Mahima is now the Innovation Ambassador and received recognition at the regional and national levels by MHRD’s Innovation Cell.  MHRD’s innovation cell on May 19 declared 127 teams as winners/finalists of the National Innovation Contest 2020. MHRD's NIC 2020 aims to provide a 360-degree cycle of learning and helps the student to understand the process of innovation in a start-up and helps to identify real-time problem along with ideation to building a business model and finally entering the phase of enterprise development in a time of one year.  Dr Mahima Mishra This contest was announced in July 2020 and 9000+ participants from 900+ IIC Institutes in India participated in the event
Read more

Skymet Predicts Onset Date Of Southwest Monsoon 2021

-
Image
Skymet, India’s leading weather forecasting and agriculture risk solutions company has released its monsoon forecast for 2021. Skymet expects the upcoming monsoon to be ‘healthy normal’ to the tune of 103% (with an error margin of +/- 5%) of the long period average (LPA) of 880.6mm for the 4-month period from June to September. This would make it 3rd consecutive year of normal or above-normal monsoon. Now, Skymet has released its monsoon onset date for 2021. Skymet expects the onset to be around the normal date. Based on the data from 1961-2019, the normal date of onset over the Indian mainland is june 1 with a standard deviation of one week.  The onset of Southwest Monsoon over Kerala is largely influenced by the oceanic conditions, both in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Likely cyclone formation in the Arabian Sea will be consequential for the advance of monsoon stream over Indian waters.  However, tropical storm 'Tauktae' will vacate the Indian region by May 22 Following
Read more