Mumbai, June 30: In the wake of the worst-ever accident on Konkan Railway that claimed 50 lives, KR has designed and is manufacturing the first prototype of an indigenous warning device to be installed at all critical cuttings along its rail route. "The indigenous device called raksha dhaga, a safety sensor, will give advance information to the engine driver with warning light and hooter signals about stability of cuttings on its route," a KR release said here.
The "raksha dhaga", comprising a strong nylon chord 70-100 metres in length, would be stretched along the length of the cutting at a height of 5-6 metres, it said. The chord is attached to a pulley at the end and is coupled with a lever, which moves up and down by 0.5 metres and automatically operates a switch, which triggers off the warning light and the hooter, the release said.
The device will be initially installed in 200 cuttings, which are above 12 metres in height. Each cutting will have four units of the device installed at either end. The prototype has already been finalised by KR and 800 units of the device will be manufactured over next four weeks for installation, the release said. Apart from this, KR is also working on the design of electronic rain gauges, which will be coupled with the anti-collision device technology to automatically control the speed of the train in case of heavy rainfall. Bureau Report