Ranchi railway div sets up mobile control centres

RANCHI: As many as 22 trains originating from

Chakradharpur

and

Ranchi divisions

of South Eastern Railways (SER) were cancelled and several trains making stopovers in these divisions were shelved as a preventive measure before the landfall of cyclone Yaas.

Passenger trains from Tatanagar railway station to Hatia, Badampahar, Danapur, Chhapra, Chakradharpur and Kharagpur and a special express train to

Ernakulam

were cancelled on Tuesday.

Ranchi division cancelled special express trains from Hatia and Howrah, passenger train between Ranchi and Kharagpur, Hatia-Puri Tapashwini Express. Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Puri-Anant Vihar Neelanchal Express, Anant Vihar-Bhubaneswar Special express, all of which have stoppages at Muri railway station, will remain suspended on Wednesday and Thursday.

Manish Kumar Pathak, the senior divisional commercial manager at Chakradharpur division, said special patrols are being carried out to watch out for uprooted trees and snapped overhead electrical wires on railway tracks.

“A control room has been set up and quick response train has been kept waiting in the wings. Four railway stations have been stocked with food, drinking water and medicine supplies for stranded passengers and railway personnel. We have also opened a helpline number and special ticket windows to handout refunds to the passengers whose trains have been cancelled due to the cyclone,” Pathak told TOI.

Similarly, the

Ranchi railway division

has set up

mobile control centres

at Ranchi, Hatia, Muri, Lohardaga, Bano, Ramgarh and Suisa railway stations. “We have also readied a special train loaded with boulders, sand and railway sleepers. The train will head out and supply materials for track repair in case of a wash out,” Niraj Kumar, the chief public relations officer of Ranchi division, said.

Railway officials in Ranchi and Chakradhapur are wary of Covid-19 in case of a major snag. “In case a track is washed out or other similar incident, we will need a manpower of 200 and above to fix the track. Social distancing will become a major challenge then. Already, around 200 of our employees are Covid-19 positive,” a senior official at Tatanagar said.

The management of Ranchi’s Birsa Munda International airport is on standby mode. “Although we have not received any alert from the Met department for Wednesday, we are on standby,” Ranchi airport director Vinod Sharma said. Ranchi airport is currently handling eight commercial flights a day.