Mumbai, June 25: The Konkan Railway (KR) would install electric rain gauges and electronic pendulum system to monitor and detect any kind of soil movement and landslide with a view to prevent rail mishap on its 750 km long railway route. The electronic devices would be installed within a period of six months and be indigenously produced at an expenditure of around Rs six crore, managing director of Konkon Railway B Rajaram told reporters here today.

Besides the above long-term measures, the Konkan Railway would ply six locomotives that would run ahead of the passenger train to warn the oncoming train of any shift in the soil movement or any similar danger sites, Rajaram said. The locomotives would be run by engineering experts who were adequately trained in detecting such danger signals, he said, adding the railway also has provided 100 cellular phones for communication between the passenger trains and those monitoring the railway route.

Describing Sunday's mishap that claimed 51 lives as a result of nature's fury, he said the landslide and soil movement had occurred in an area which was otherwise considered "a stable slope". "All our text books have failed and the landslides on a stable slope has shaken our beliefs in textbook knowledge," he said.

Rajaram opined that the Konkan Railway had left no stone unturned to ensure the best safety device for the terrain and added, "the driver of the ill-fated train was among the best we had." Bureau Report