Technology and muscle power is what the Central Railway have opted for to prevent boulders and mudslides from obstructing train movement in the ghat section. The CR has installed 60 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras at vulnerable locations on the ghat sections especially beyond Karjat and Kasara towards Lonavala and Igatpuri. These CCTVs have been mainly installed on signal poles and even locations where the mountainous rocks can be monitored. Sources also said that they also conducted drone surveys at these hilly terrains along the rail lines to understand the loose boulders that needed attention. "We kept 24-hour surveillance of these sections and we were able to analyse that there were incidents of boulders falling on tracks along with mud causing detention of trains on these sections," said a CR official. They also deputed stationary watchmen at 19 vulnerable locations and given portable phones to inform control room in case of boulder collapses. The CR administration removed 700 boulders with help of these methods. "Over the past few days we were able to observe that boulders are falling from height of 70-80 meters which did not occur previously," said a CR official. Over the past week there have been few incidents of boulder collapse and mudslides on these locations leading to disruption in train services. The information collected using CCTVs, drones and watchmen were used to identify vulnerable areas where they have now installed Canadian fencing. In this, they fenced using steel reinforcements of 650 meter long at vulnerable locations to prevent boulders from falling on tracks all at a cost of Rs 6 crore. They also extended the length of the tunnel at four locations so that mud slide and boulders are restricted on the top and not on tracks below. They also bolted using steel fence on 750 square meters of boulders. Over the past few days the ghat sections received heavy rainfall of 1900mm. The budget for Indian Railways has made arrangement to address these issues of boulder falling and mudslide. On the Kasara-Igatpuri section, a sum of Rs 25 lakh has been allotted for protective netting and bolting of boulders on the face of the tunnel and vulnerable locations. Similarly, on the Monkey Hill-Thakurwadi section, Rs 50 lakh has been provided for addressing rockfall using a technology wherein it would be secured after draping the rocks and boulders with geo-composite steel mesh.

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