Central Railway to repair Parsik tunnel leakage by October

Constant complaints and follow-ups from passenger associations have finally paid off. The leakage inside Asia’s one of the oldest tunnels at Parsik, will be eliminated by October. The Central Railway is repairing the leakage by means of grouting. 

In April, DNA had published an article on the problem and by June the repair work started inside this 1.3-kilometre-long rail tunnel. Sources said that over the weeks, they found that the water seepage spreading across 200 metre, was severe in areas.

“We had been fighting with the administration to address the problem of water leakage. And we are glad that our pleas were heard by the CR administration. Water leaking from the roof of the tunnel was not only falling on commuters standing on the footboard but had also made the soil weak. There are several illegal structures and hutments because of which, the leakage started,” said Madhu Kotian, President, Mumbai Railway Pravasi Sangh.

The poor condition of the tunnel’s roof had weakened this tunnel built in 1873. Water spurts onto passing trains andthe roof is cracked right beneath the rocky hill. Everyday nearly 7 lakh people travelling between Thane and Dombivli pass through the Parsik tunnel. The CR officials agree that the situation had become grim and further delay in repairing could have resulted in an unwanted incident.

The CR authorities claimed that there were close to 80-100 illegally setup hutments on the roof of this hillock. The illegally installed water-supply resulted in heavy water leakage which led to constant dripping on trains and tracks below. “Even the roof was heavily soaked. So we have been carrying out grouting work through which water is being removed and cement is injected 5 mm into the roof to strengthen it,” said a CR official on the condition of anonymity.

Due to this issue, trains too run with speed restrictions inside the tunnel, leading to a delay of 3-5 minutes. Despite regular demolitions by authorities, there are also toilets with a poor drainage system that have cropped up above this rail tunnel.

OTHER DETAILS

• The Parsik tunnel was built in the year 1873 and is one of the oldest and longest rail tunnels
   
• There is a proposal of having Parsik station between Dombivli and Thane on the slow line 
   
• Over 7 lakh commuters regularly use CR trains between Thane and Dombivli