The Central Railway’s (CR) Pune division will complete its monsoon preparatory works by the end of May to ensure uninterrupted services even in case of heavy rain.

CR-Pune division public relations officer Manoj Jhanvar said work has begun to avert waterlogging on the tracks and near the stations. “Tree branches along the tracks are being trimmed. In some cases, we have to cut trees if there is no alternative,” he said.

“Water channels on bridges are being cleaned and loose boulders on hills and hillocks near the tracks are being removed to ensure that landslides do not affect the rail services. We are also removing the small stones too close to the tracks,” Jhanvar added.

The monsoon preparatory works are in progress on the tracks measuring 503.39km in length. The entire stretch includes 133.50km of Lonavla-Pune-Daund, 328.21km of Pune-Miraj-Kolhapur and 41.68km Daund-Baramati sections.

“Railway employees will conduct monsoon patrolling on the tracks at important bridges like the ones at Dapodi and Shivajinagar and in the ghat sections from 10pm to 6am. We will also co-ordinate with the irrigation department to be aware of the discharge from the dams and monitor the Met department alerts,” Jhanvar said.