Mumbai Rains: Viral Video Claims Cloth Being Used to Bridge Fractured Track Near Mankhurd Station, Central Railway Clarifies

Mumbai, July 10: Heavy rains disrupted local train services in Mumbai once again on Tuesday. Amid nature's fury, a video has emerged which claimed that a piece of cloth was being used to bridge the gap on a fractured track. The incident was reported from the Mankhurd railway station on the Harbour Line. However, the Central Railway dismissed the claim made in the viral video.

In the video, it was alleged that a piece of cloth was used to bridge a fractured track near Mankhurd station so that the local train could pass over it. Issuing a clarification, the Central Railway denied using a cloth to fix broken rain track and reiterated that no compromised was made with passengers' safety. It said the cloth was tied instead of paint as a marker.

"Fish plate was intact with tight bolts. Train passed in presence of Permanent Way official at restricted speed. Cloth wasn't put to bridge gap, but to mark for replacement since paint doesn't stick in rain," the Central Railway said in a statement. According to the clarification, some damaged portion was marked by the cloth as it would not have been possible to use paint during heavy rains.

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court raprimanded the Indian Railways today and asked why do train services come to a halt in Mumbai every year during the monsoon. It observed that the Central Railway and the Western Railway did nothing to resolve the problem.

“Even after so many years, suburban railway tracks are submerged in rains. Why can't you raise the height of tracks to avoid flooding?” the High Court asked. Mumbai was drenched for the fourth consecutive day today.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 10, 2018 11:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).