Shimla, Oct 11
Recent heavy rains during the monsoon wreaked havoc in the state causing massive loss to National Highways, State road and Railway line. As per information now threat is looming large as massive seepage is being noted inside the second longest tunnel on Kalka Shimla Railway track I.e Tunnel no 103 .
Recently a team of engineers from Ambala division of Northern Railway inspected a spot
inside the Tunnel No -103 on Kalka Shimla Railway in the town. A railway officer on the condition of anonymity said that instructions have been passed to the department to get it repaired soon as minor cracks are emerging inside the tunnel.
It is worthwhile to mention that number of government offices and residences and a new state guest house have been built up on the Prospect hill which already houses number of historic building including peterhoff and Indian Instituted Advance Studies or Viceroy Lodge, Doordarshan Shimla , AIR Bhawan etc.
The 103 tunnel on the heritage rail line has been seeping since a long time which substantially goes up during the rainy season .
The Official said that seepage of water and minor cracks are being mended in time and a inspection team of railway often conducts visits on the line. A heavy boulders derailed a boggy of the Kalka- Shimla Railway line last month after heavy rainfall.
Uprooting of trees, landslides, massive damping and mining on the construction of four lane between Kalka-Shimla National highway has also rendered landslide and flash flood many times in past few years which increase with incessant and monsoon rainfall.
This year in Himachal Pradesh, there has been a lot of damage to life and property. At the same time, the world heritage Shimla-Kalka railway line could not escape from the ravages of rain.
According to the information, in the 103 tunnel a wide crack has appeared on the Kalka side of it.
Due to which the railway officers and employees have become very worried. It is noteworthy that it is the second longest tunnel after Barog Tunnel having total length of about 450 meters.
If the loss caused by the drainage of water would not be sorted in time then it may disrupt movement of train on Kalka Shimla Railway station which was recently resumed after gap of one year during the Covid pandemic .
Santosh Kumar, a local residents of town living near tunnel said that a lot of water has been dripping from the inner and upper walls of the tunnel at the end of the tunnel since a long time.
He said that environmentalist who are making a lot of hue and cry over private construction are maintaining silence on unscientific and massive construction of heavy concrete walls by the National highway authority and Town and
country planners by uprooting number of trees every day by digging shallow roots of massive Deodar trees in the town.
Shimla town which come under Smart city project has no dearth of public money which is now replacing previous constructions by heavy layers of concrete and steel bars, he added.
