Specialist maintenance staff, drone surveys introduced for track maintenance in Andhra's Ananthgiri Hills

Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], August 31 (ANI): Amid the monsoon season and to handle rocky terrain and boulders in the region, specialised hill maintainence staff aided by drone surveillance are being introduced by the Waltair Division to facilitate track and tunnel maintenance in the KK line in the Ananthgiri Hills.
More than 20 staff were trained this summer at the National Institute of Mountaineering under the Ministry of Defence in Arunachal Pradesh for the job and 30 more staff belonging to the Engineering, Traction and Accident Relief Departments have also been called for specialised training at this facility in Arunachal Pradesh in the month of October.
In order to tackle any emergency due to boulder obstruction from both sides in the Boddavara - Borraguhalu Ghat section, a new Track Material Relief train has also been introduced at Shrungaravarapukota Station in addition to the existing train available at Araku.
This is expected to help ease track maintenance as this train is equipped with poclain machines, compressors, and pneumatic breakers to blast boulders coming onto tracks, track material, etc.
Also, a new flying squad equipped with hydraulic rerailing equipment with waggon coupling and bogie material in a special coach to handle emergencies has recently been posted at Araku.
"Emergency Communication" sockets have also been installed at both ends of all tunnels as well as inside longer tunnels in the KK line.
Trolleys and man refuge in tunnels were recently provided retroreflective indicator boards to guide patrolling trackmen.
Speaking on the operations, Divisional Railway Manager Saurabh Prasad said, "These measures have been introduced to minimise disruptions and restore operations faster in any exigency in the KK line, especially as the line is critical for handling the growth of iron ore traffic." (ANI)