FLOODS

The Child's Rhyme "Rain rain go away ", lingers in my mind. The South west Monsoon [Thenmerku Paruvamazai as told in Tamil] has set in here at Surat and South Gujarat vigorously. The rains which started almost a week ago is in full swing. The River Tapi at Surat is flowing with high water level. The Flood alert has also been issued by Civil adminstation.

Disruption in rail traffic has been reported all along the Mumbai- Ahemadabad Route and passengers got fustrated at Staions along the route. Passengers were found stranded at Surat and Vadodara Railway stations.

The Main Cause was water indundation along the rail track between Surat and Vadodara as river Narmada was found flowing at Higher level at many places.

From Press

"The water level in dams, lying dry for the past several months, has increased in the past three days as heavy rains were reported from Junagadh, Amreli, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar districts in the past 24 hours. The monsoon activities have eased the drinking water crisis and fodder shortage in about 200 talukas, which were reeling under severe drought conditions."

Times of India
AHMEDABAD: More than 15,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas in Gujarat, where five rivers are flowing above the danger mark following heavy rains for the last four days. Thirty people have died in rain-related incidents, sources said. The district authorities have issued flood alerts in Navsari, Valsad, Surat and Dang districts and several people in flood-prone areas have been evacuated. The army has also been put on standby. The rivers which are flowing above the danger mark are Auranga, Wanki, Ambika, Kaveri and Kharera rivers in Valsad district of Gujarat. Water Resource Minister Narottam Patel, who is camping in Valsad, described the situation as serious.

From NDTV web site

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 (Ahmedabad):South Gujarat has been reeling under non-stop rain over the last four days, and flood alerts have been sounded in Valsad, Navsari, Surat and Dangs districts.Authorities in Valsad have sought the help of the Coast Guard to help with rising water levels in the rivers. Paramilitary forces have also been called in Navsari.Heavy damageThirty-two people have died due to excessive rainfall in the area, and 15,000 people have been evacuated.Not only have the incessant rains robbed them of their homes, even food to eat is now a commodity that is difficult to find. Further north in Vadodara district, shops and slums have been washed away by the rains, as residents try to salvage their belongings.Wreaking havoc At least four rivers, including the Narmada, are flowing over the danger mark. The rise of water levels around the Wapi bridge, a crucial link between Mumbai and Surat, is indicative of the serious situation. "The collapse of the bridge indicates the power of the river. It can even cause the villages around to be completely submerged," said C Gandhi, Senior PI, Walsad, GIDC police station.Over 10 trains were also left stranded for around eight hours on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Delhi routes due to water-logging on the tracks. The trains have now started moving after the water levels receded somewhat, but authorities have advised commuters to stay off as delays are expected.

MBF : Mech Engineers on Urgent Operation

The Condition of MBF which was aling over some time got detoriated. It got into flames once again. Small amount of Hot Fines also started to spill out from the mis-alignment. All the mechanical engineers, welders, technicians working on other jobs were summoned at Mod # 4 MBF . Reforming[Producing high temperature gas for reduction reaction at Furnce", was stopped and furnace was purged with seal gas for some time. Then system was depressurised and the operation of MBF shaft for proper alignment were under progress when the B-Shift end reports came in.

My Double Shift [B+C]

Due to 'Gully' by Shashi Bhai , I need to continue in C shinft also today. The Wiper Bar problem in Mod # 1 is Just over . By changing FSO1 card we could rectify the problem.
In plc # 1 ,coil 385 was faulty. But since spares were not available the soft target was 'flow simulator' . We have now borrowed coil 402 from flow simulator. It needs to be rectified at later stages, usually during shutdown.

Rain

Monsoon arrives finally. This year its arrival in Hazira was Punctual. Though we were taking care of monsoon protection form the month of April, nature always remains powerful. Today we found one lapse. It was in HBI 's mod 2. The south side has a Hydraulic tank . Its Local Jb got drenched in water. So after puting plastic cover the problem got solved and all hydraulic pumps started to run in normal mode.

Moon Plays Hide & Seek

Wishing Bharaty a Speedy Recovery

Sundera Bharathy was back from his visit to hometown. But as soon as he arrived at Surat, he was diagnosed of Malaria. But in Surat, Doctors said to him that malaria is a “Ju Ju Bi” matter. Doctor was right.With in two days Bharathy recovered from illness and is now feeling better.

But still he is on leave for one more day to recuperate. I wish him a speedy recovery. He will be back to Technical Services of Hot Strip Mill very soon.

Change of Climate

For the past two to three days we had facing a gradual change in climate. The Hot Summer is overcome by the SOUTH WEST monsoon. The clouds are dark and in between them the [full] moon is playing hide and seek.

Occasional drizzles are keeping us happy. The hot wind is now got converted into a harsh breeze with high speed.

Collapse of DTH antenna

At the far west of Gujarat , At BSNL exchange quarters of Bhatiya, near Dwaraka, Subbia’s DTH receiver antenna got detached and fell down. Strong winds and a moderate rain is to be blamed. Lukily no one was injured. The restoration will take place within two days according to higher officials at Bhatiya exchange.

MBF wreaks

MBF Wreaks further: Middle Burden feeder of Module # 4, HBI plant, stalls at 22:40 hrs, causing restriction of high temperature material flow, the reduced Iron. The Top gas temperature began to shoot up. The shaft is powered by two Push-Pull hydraulic cylinders and senses their “end of Stroke” and change direction using two inductive proximites. Since the shaft was out of alignment for past two to three months, the crack opening at shaft got wide day by day. The furnace gas was jetting out from this gas. This gas is highly inflammable with high concentration of CO [carbon monoxide]. So any one approaching near will go unconscious. The explosive limit was also very very high. So doing any electrical signal wiring, welding in the area will result in fire. Further the CO gas which was oozing out itself has a tendency to catch fire on its own as its temperature was above its Self Ignition Temperature.Huge water spraysg were required to prevent reoccurrence of fire.

Why did MBF stall?
Since hot gas was oozing out at regular intervals and water mixed with reduced iron dust , the proximites were failing to respond to actual target . Further the high temperature in the region also reduced its life. But one more important reason was that the local JB , kept below almost 6 inches above the floor, was completely drenched with water. This JB dint even had a cable duct gland. So the voltage to Proximty might also got failed.

Approaching to this Local JB was not possible in the above said condition. During this crisis two timers simulated MBF “end of stroke”.

So it was finally decided to continue the MBF running with out proximites to sense their end of stroke, and instead timers simulating them.

But in next shutdown care must taken to shift the Local JB to a comfortable higher position, and re-routing the lead cables of each proximity in full length. It should not be kept wound as presently kept. Cable gland must be used to prevent any water entry or dust entry inside the JB.

The Meeting

When at 14:45hrs I reported to duty, I was informed that an intra department meeting is scheduled for 15:00hrs. It was to sort out the issue of tackling repeated jobs and to finish pending jobs, support from seniors, developing the skill of GET’s and DET’s.

Hai . Today I am Inspired by BSNL Pandiyan to go through a Blog. I was also inspired and I too now consider the "ROLE MODEL" concept of that Blog.

There are times in my life when I am let down. So inspiratrion from some one only will be a catlyst be bring me back to life. Today also I got the inspired by reading one blog suggested by BSNL Pandiyan.

Thank you Pandiyan.

Today was a great day in HBI-Plant. Today I took the Job to replace a Gamma Ray Detecter used in a solid chamber [PDC] level measurement. It was a nice experience. Since we have to work with the Radoactive source open , It need some extra safety PPE. It was a nice experience.