Daijiworld Media Network - Sullia (MS)

Sullia, Jul 23: The blasting of boulder that was about to fall on the railway tracks, at Manibanda on the Subramanya-Sakleshpur route continued on Monday, July 22 also.

The work of blasting the boulder and clearing the debris is going on in spite of the bad weather. Around 80 labourers belonging to the Sakleshpur and Subramanya railway sections are busy in the work along with Hitachi machines and compressors. At one end the work of clearing the debris is being done, while on the other the splinters of the rock and mud is pouring on the track. The operation seems to be continuing for some time now.

At least three more days are required to clear the mud that is already fallen on the track and also to break the boulder that is about to fall on the track. If landslide occurs during this time, the restoration of train service will delay further. By seeing the severity of the collapse, it seems that the train service between Bengaluru and Mangaluru will take at least a week to resume as per the senior officers of Mysuru Railway division.

The boulder is being blasted using compressor. On Monday, July 22, the boulder was blasted three times. In addition, the boulder was blasted 10 times using explosives. The operation is conducted in both day and night shifts. As it is raining heavily, the work is not progressing in the desired pace. There is the issue of light also while working in the night. Now the work is undertaken in the night using small generator. As the space is also limited, there is lack of area to dump the splinters of rock and the mud.

Fuel for the machines, food for officials and the workmen is being taken through trolley from Nettana Subramanya Road railway station. All the day trains between Mangaluru and Bengaluru are cancelled till July 24 in the wake of this operation. Night trains of this route will travel in alternative route.