Siribagilu: Landslide on track

Sakleshpur/Subrahmanya: A landslide has occurred on the 85^th mile at Yedakumari, on Mangaluru-Hassan rail track, between Yedakumari-Kadagarahalli stations, covering the railway tracks with mud and trees on Tuesday evening. As a result, Karwar-Yesvantpur tri-weekly train has been cancelled. 

The landslide was spotted by gangmen patrolling the area, who immediately reported it to Yedakumari station master. Railway officials rushed to the spot and found that around 500 cubic metres of soil and a huge boulder has covered the track. The boulder had damaged rails and around 20 sleepers.

E. Vijaya, public relations officer of South Western Railway told media that the emergency staff and machinery has started the restoration work to bring train services back to normal. Passengers on board train 16516 were brought to Puttur where 10 KSRTC buses requisitioned from Puttur depot took the passengers to their respective destinations of Mysuru and Bengaluru.

 “In the interim, the authorities also provided 400 food packets to the stranded passengers and 300 bottles of water,” she added.

There was a delay in the requisitioning of the buses by SWR on reaching Puttur station which  caused some unrest among passengers. While eight of the ten buses went to Bengaluru via Mysuru, the rest went via Hassan. Passengers who chose to cancel their trip were brought back to Mangaluru in the same train.