CCTV Saves Railway Passengers’ Lives: See How CCTV Prevented A Major Train Accident On Mumbai-Pune Route

A huge disaster on the railway line between Mumbai and Pune has thankfully been averted, and the credit for this goes to the CCTV cameras installed.

CCTV cameras have proved to be of great usage in the country to identify thieves, but this time, the cameras have helped mankind on a much greater scale.

The Indian Railways has recently started taking care and ensuring appropriate precautions were taken, especially now that monsoon is approaching.

How did the CCTV cameras help prevent this huge disaster? Read on to know the whole scoop!

Mumbai-Kolhapur Sahyadri Express Halted For Two Hours

A boulder had fallen on the railway tracks near Lonavla at around 8.15 pm on Thursday, which resulted in the Mumbai-Kolhapur Sahyadri Express being halted for more than two hours.

#WATCH Maharashtra: A boulder fell on the railway tracks near Lonavala, around 8 pm on 13 June. Mumbai-Kolhapur 11023 Sahyadri Express was delayed for around 2 hours due to the boulder. All lines were made operational by 11 pm. (Video source: Central Railway CPRO) pic.twitter.com/Jbq3iOSyRe

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019

However, any disaster was averted as this incident was caught in the CCTV cameras installed in the Monkey Hill area in the Bhor Ghat of the railway line between Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra.

The Mumbai-Kolhapur Sahyadri Express changed its route and was sent back to Thakurwadi station, after which it started its journey to Kolhapur after about 10.30 pm. Moreover, the passengers were well taken care of by the Indian Railways. When the train reached Thakurwadi station, the passengers were provided with water and in Lonavla, they were given snacks too.

CCTV Footage Was Reported By The Monitoring Staff

Apparently, the boulder was 2.3 meters long, 1.6 meters high, and 2.2 meters wide in dimension, and serious damage was inevitable, had it hit the train.

“A major accident was averted after cameras and communication systems installed in the Mumbai-Pune Bhor Ghat mountain section of Central Railway alerted the authorities of a landslide on the rail tracks on Thursday night at Monkey Hill near Lonavala,” said Railway Ministry spokesperson Smita Vats Sharma.

The Chief spokesperson of Central Railway, Sunil Udasi said that the staff that watched over the CCTV footage reported the landslide to the higher authorities immediately. They also made sure that the power was cut off and trains that were scheduled to run on those tracks were made to halt in time.

He also said that the traffic on the route was restored in the “shortest possible time.”

If it weren’t for the CCTV cameras, and the monitoring staff that reported the impending disaster in time, it is difficult to say what India would have woken up to today.