Rail roko: SCR sans contingency plan

HYDERABAD: Despite knowing well in advance about the two-day rail roko (July 8 & 9) announced by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC), the South Central Railway (SCR) is yet to put in place a contingency plan for the 48-hour protest.
Over 200 trains, including 167 services traversing the twin cities, criss-cross the Telangana region every day.Hyderabad is one of the busiest railway hubs in the South and over a lakh passengers travel by trains every day.
While railway authorities are maintaining that they have been working on logistics and would come up with a detailed action plan by Thursday, passengers travelling in long-distance trains are likely to face delays.
Sensing the gravity of situation, SCR in-charge general manager G N Asthana arrived in the city to monitor developments here. "We are in touch with the state government. Based on their inputs, a detailed contingency plan will be prepared," Asthana told TOI.
The GM along with Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) officers would meet director-general of police (DGP) V Dinesh Reddy on Thursday morning to discuss the security aspects.
An SCR spokesperson said that the process of devising a contingency plan is a tough task as it needs interaction with various railway zones and the Railway Board. "We are working out on various options and the plan needs to be approved by the Board," the spokesperson added.
According to an SCR official, train diversions could be minimal as it might cause congestion on the alternate routes and would definitely cause a lot of inconvenience to passengers.
One alternatives being thought about is diverting North-South or South-North long distance trains passing through Telangana via Maharashtra- Rayalaseema or via Konkan route. "Other option is to allow the train till it hits a protest spot and try to convince protesters to let it through or cancel the service," the SCR official said.
The journey of inbound trains scheduled to reach the city or other Telangana towns is likely to be cut short before they enter the troubled region, while trains scheduled for departure from the city are likely to be cancelled.
Passengers had suffered a lot during the one-day rail roko call given by TJAC on March 1. "The Charminar Express (Chennai to Secunderabad) was stopped by protesters near Jangaon in Warangal. After an agonizing wait of a few hours, we were brought to the city in RTC buses," P Sunil Kumar Reddy, a software engineer said.
It was not just Sunil, hundreds of passengers travelling on-board the Karnataka Sampark Kranti express were put to inconvenience when the train was stopped at Jammikunta in Karimnagar district.
The previous rail roko agitation was for just a day and despite going through such experience, the SCR authorities seem to have not learnt any lesson. They have failed to inform thousands of passengers scheduled to travel by long-distance trains like AP Express and Yeshwantpur-Delhi Rajdhani Express on Thursday about the fate of their journey.
APSRTC managing director B Prasada Rao said they were yet to be contacted by the SCR about any contingency plan, but assured that their officials would be readily available to help stranded train passengers.