Watch: Pointsmen Help Train Navigate Waterlogged Tracks In Madhya Pradesh

This year’s heavy monsoon has caused waterlogging in many parts of the country. As a result, many services of roadways, airways and waterways have been disrupted. The railway network has also been disrupted due to the bad weather. One of the ways in which rain hinders the movement of trains is by covering the entire track with murky water, making it impossible for the driver to see the way. Sometimes, railway pointsmen come to the aid of the train drivers by making sure that the train runs on the tracks. Now, a video of pointsmen in action has gone viral.

The undated video shows a group of pointsmen slowly treading on covered tracks, while a train follows them at a slow speed. The tracksmen braved the rain and the waterlogging to map out the train tracks so that the driver could follow their lead and the train didn’t get derailed. This video was shared online by a local news channel. Reportedly, the clip was taken in Madhya Pradesh. It was captioned, “Pointsmen walked between tracks to show the way to a train as the tracks got submerged in water due to waterlogging between Sleemanabad and Dundi stations in Madhya Pradesh.”

It seems plausible that manually guiding the train over waterlogged tracks can be feasible on short routes because it is a time-consuming and taxing process. As mentioned in the video’s caption, the pointsmen guided the train from Sleemanabad and Dundi stations. The train track distance between these two stations is about 10 kilometres.

Commenting on the above-mentioned video, an Instagram user wrote, “Salute the hard work of these heroes. Requesting Indian politicians to stay grounded.” People also wondered if technology could be improved for guiding trains and highlighted the possible occupational hazards of being a pointsman. Sharing this sentiment, an Instagram user wrote, “So when there is a deep hole, a man should die first and the train stops? Can’t we use technology on this issue?” Another person shared, “What if they step on an overhead line and get shocked.”

Someone commented on the snail-paced speed of the train and remarked, “When will they reach their destination at this speed?” An Instagram user blamed deforestation for the waterlogging problem and wrote, “Results of destroying forests in the name of the nation’s future building.”