SOLAN: After wandering for alternatives to set up the yard and rail track at washed out Koti railway station the railway authorities has finally decided to remove a hillock near the damaged site. In fact the few small blasts were made in past two days to get space out of the hill. The debris came out from blast would be used to fill the pit caused by devastating nullah on July 12 midnight.
The major problem has arisen out before railway to undo the damages at railway station that was virtually wiped out in flashflood. The things were turned adverse as tunnel no 10 the second largest on track was just ahead of damaged site. Thus there was no scope to do anything towards tunnel site towards the uphill.
The plan to construct a bridge over pit was also mooted out earlier but this move has to be turned down as yard where train halt could not be set up over the bridge. Finally after grappling for more alternatives it was finally decided to chop-off the hillock to pave way for construction of new yard as well as the rail track.
Earlier it was planned to do big blasts however concerns expressed by the residents of a village just upstream the damaged site has forced the railway to go for minor blasts. For this work the Army help has sought to assist the railway engineers in relaying the track again. The work was going on war footing to restore the traffic on whole 96-km long track.
Meanwhile the railway authorities today declared the whole station building unsafe thus paving the way to construction of new railway station at new location. The 80 percent railway station was damaged in flashflood whereas work in rest 20 percent building known as T-9 was allowed to carry on.
