The freight trains continued unabated in the middle of the lock. (Representative)
New Delhi:
To ensure increased availability of food grains from the public distribution system (PDS) in ration stores all over India in time, the Northern Railways moved a total of 2,218 rakes carrying approximately 62.47 lakh of tonnes (LT) of wheat and rice to 18 deficient states during the period April 1 to June 8.
The Indian railways, the largest passenger transport in the country, are actively involved in the country’s fight against coronavirus. When the lockout took effect in India, all passenger train operations were stopped from midnight on March 22. More than 12,000 express, premium and suburban trains have stopped running on the rail network.
A situation never encountered in the 167 years of Indian railways. However, the freight trains continued their journey tirelessly.
Rajiv Chaudhry, Managing Director Northern & North Central Railways, shared reports that the ongoing task assigned to Northern Railway was to maintain a stable supply chain to feed 80 crores of NFSA beneficiaries through the continuous evacuation of food grains from the Punjab and Haryana granaries. The challenge was more difficult due to the demanding working conditions due to the pandemic and the ensuing lock-in. The availability of rail cars, the rapid dispatch of food grain rakes, the organization of staff and the maintenance of their motivation to work in difficult conditions were difficult tasks for the divisions concerned.
As the lockout period was extended, the government announced that it would provide an additional 5 kg of food grains per person to NFSA beneficiaries. To meet demand, the deficit states were authorized to withdraw on credit 3 months from FCI. There was more pressure on the railways to ensure improved evacuation. This resulted in a sudden increase in loading requirements, from 15 to 3.6 times more rakes on average per day on Northern Railways. On 04-22-20, an all-time record of 54 days loading in one day was reached.
Since movements of covered rake freight were discouraged, managing the adequate supply of empty rakes across the country and transporting them to Punjab and Haryana for loading was a daunting task.
To meet demand, the flow of covered rakes operating in other parts of India has been diverted to the north and the car maintenance model has been modified to increase availability. Meticulous advance planning was underway with Food Corporation of India (FCI) to organize destinations according to state requirements. For loading and unloading, Northern Railways constantly coordinates the release of terminals and the availability of labor with local administration and at the highest level with MHA.
Over 47.06 LT of rice and 15.4 LT of wheat were sent to the host states of Punjab and Haryana. This is 206 percent more than the load of food grains made on NR over the same period last year.
With this, the zonal railway obtained the distinction of carrying out almost 50 percent of the total load of food grains by the railways in the country during the closed period.
The general manager also added that long distance special goods and scheduled express trains will continue to circulate in different parts of northern India to maintain the supply of food grains, daily necessities, essential medicines and equipment all over India to reach the most remote places.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
