Railway blames local body for delay in operation

KOCHI: The Railways has blamed the Kochi Corporation for hampering its operations as railway lines in Ernakulam South are submerged by water overflowing from clogged drains.Even as the corporation claimed to have carried out de-silting of the canals, water overflowed from the canals at many places.“The continuous flow of water from the Corporation drains is causing flooding of the railway track. Consequently, the signaling system has gone out of gear destabilising train operations in Ernakulam junction,” railway sources said. The Railways has accused the Corporation of not doing anything to pump out water from the canals. It said it was unnecessarily facing the wrath of the public for no fault of its own. It warned that there would be long delays in the days to come if the Corporation failed to redress the problem. A team of police officials visited senior officials of the corporation to take up the issue.Corporation sources said it was exploring ways to pump out water from the drains. Meanwhile, sources said there were at least nine culverts maintained by the railways near Ernakulam South which get clogged during rainy season due to low level. It was the duty of the Railways to rebuild the culverts raising their levels. This would help in a big way to solve the submerging of the low-lying areas of the railways, the sources said.