On Friday, 6th October, vigilant railway employees in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Maharashtra, spotted multiple large rocks that had been placed on the tracks on purpose and narrowly averted a potential tragedy. The discovery was made by the railway crew of the civil engineering department at around 4:00 PM while carrying out routine track maintenance weld testing work.
VIDEO | A major incident was averted yesterday after the railway staff noticed a few boulders kept on track in Maharashtra's Pimpri-Chinchwad. "Our staff noticed boulders kept on the track at five points and informed the station master after which they were removed. Further probe… pic.twitter.com/i5JZIpYxZR
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 7, 2023
The boulders were noticed by a watchful guard named Sandeep Bhalerao aboard a suburban train headed for Pune that was moving on adjacent tracks and he then alerted the station master at Chinchwad Mathew George. The train no. 16352, UP Nagarcoil-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) Express’ loco pilot, MV Pavalkar and its guard DK Verma, were promptly informed by the station master to proceed cautiously which passed safely after the removal of the stones.
The official statement by railway officials said, “While our railway staff of civil engineering department has gone in this section for routine track maintenance weld testing work, staff observed that major boulders were kept on UP Line track. Timely detection of this miscreant activity by staff avoided the possibility of major unusual.”
A senior Railway official stated, “Guard Sandip Bhalerao on a Lonavala-Pune suburban train spotted the boulders on the adjacent UP tracks and informed the station master of Chinchwad. The station master immediately contacted the loco pilot of UP Nagarcoil-Mumbai CSMT Express and the train was halted till the time the boulders were removed.”
An inquiry has been initiated to find the culprits involved in the perilous act by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF). CPRO Central Railway Shivaji Manaspure provided additional details about the incident and revealed that a team that was already patrolling the area observed massive rocks at five separate sites on the tracks at a distance of 10 to 20 meters. He mentioned that this offence appeared to have been done with malice reportedly by some anti-social elements.
The official added that the patrolling team acted swiftly and removed the boulders to avert any potential disaster. He proclaimed that a thorough investigation of the immediate region is being conducted to gather any clues or evidence to identify those who are culpable.
It should be noted that this is not the first instance of such a malevolent attempt. On 2nd October, the driver of the Vande Bharat Express travelling from Udaipur to Jaipur avoided a catastrophic event by pressing the emergency brake to thwart an attempted derailing plot. According to official reports, the Vande Bharat Express crew found that there were stones and fish plates left on the railway track.
