Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jul 4: After a huge boulder slipped down from its spot due to incessant rain on Tuesday July 3 afternoon and got deposited on the railway track at Kodagaravalli on the railway track between the city and Bengaluru, railway services on this line were hit.

Kodagaravalli in Shiribagilu is located near Yedakumeri between Nettana and Sakleshpur railway stations. A hillock near this spot gave way after which the boulder slipped along with the mound of earth beneath it and fell on the tracks at around 1 pm. The spot where this incident happened is located about 65 km away from Nettana railway station near Subramanya. Along with the boulder, mud and trees also got deposited on the tracks, it is gathered.

The railway staff began work on clearing this mess immediately after getting intimated about this incident. Over 40 labourers were engaged for the work of removing mud and other things from the tracks. The railway sources expressed the confidence of being able to resume train operations on these tracks soon and expected the train to Bengaluru from the city to depart the city late on Tuesday night.

During the last one month, train services were hit thrice because of landslides caused by heavy rains in ghat section.

As a result of the above incident, the passengers travelling by the day train to Bengaluru numbering about 400 had to alight at Puttur station. The train had already reached Yedakumeri when the information about the incident reached it. The train then returned to Puttur by making use of the additional engine fitted in the rear side at Subramanya for helping the train to undertake steep upward journey on the ghat section. From there, the railway officials sent the passengers to Bengaluru by KSRTC buses. After the passengers got down, the train moved back to the city.