HYDERABAD: A special parcel train between Secunderabad and
Howrah shipped
3,005 packages of essential and
general goods
weighing 91.7 tonnes on Friday.
“The items on the train included cartons of eggs, general goods such as chocolates, biscuits, garments, medicines, medicinal equipment, machinery parts from twin cities, musk melons, mangoes from Vijayawada and Rajahmundry, ghee tins from Anakapalle and lemon gunny bags from Vijayawada,” Ch Rakesh, chief public relations officer,
South Central Railway
(SCR) told TOI.
“As it is a point-to-point service, we are ensuring that stations like Rajahmundry and Anakapalle are receiving medical supplies,” he added.
Many people who are sending these supplies have their families residing in Ultadanga, Kankurgachi, Noapara, and Majrhati in West Bengal, where there is shortage of grocery items, masks and sanitisers.
“My parents live in Kankurgachi where there is a shortage of grocery items. So we have sent vegetables, eggs, and milk,” said Binod Kumar, resident of Kacheguda.
There is also a huge demand for frozen fish products from Bhubaneswar, Kharagpur and area snear Howrah. “Fish boxes were picked up from Guntakal and Vijayawada,” informed an SCR official.
Several individuals who used the train service and railway staff informed that towns on the outskirts of Kolkata reported a shortage of health essentials.
The next special parcel train from Secunderabad to Howrah will run on April 9.