To avoid soil erosion and landslips during heavy rains, the Central Railway is planning vetiver grass plantation for uninterrupted train working in the ghat sections.
Nila.
Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila said the ghat sections, particularly the Bhor Ghat (Karjat-Lonavala) and Thal Ghat (Kasara-Igatpuri), were vulnerable to soil erosion, surface runoff, boulder falling and shallow landslips during monsoon, which posed a serious challenge to safe train operations. “To address this, the Central Railway is exploring large-scale use of Vetiver Grass [ Chrysopogon zizanioides] as a natural slope stabilisation measure,” Mr. Nila said. “This nature-based solution will help the Central Railway in preventing soil erosion and slope instability in ghat sections, reducing instances of boulder and debris falling on tracks, ensuring safe and punctual train operations during monsoon and minimising maintenance cost of conventional protection works,” said Mr.
