VIJAYAWADA: In view of the prevailing cyclonic weather conditions and forecast of heavy rains due to cyclone Fani on the coastline of Odisha, the South Central Railway (SCR) has declared high alert to handle any exigencies.
SCR General Manager Gajanan Mallya convened a disaster preparedness meeting with officials of various departments on Thursday. During the meeting, Mallya directed officials to make necessary arrangements for tackling any exigency that arises on SCR network on account of the cyclone. Emergency control rooms were opened at Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad and in the divisional head office of Vijayawada division on Wednesday.
The Railways will maintain a continuous liaison with the State Disaster Management Centre to update the possible effect of the cyclone in the section. Railway officials are in close contact with the officials of the State government, especially with Irrigation officials, to keep a watch on the situation and water levels of Railway- Affected Tanks (RATs) nearby railway tracks on a continuous basis in case of heavy rains.
Trains running on the section likely to be affected by the cyclone: Trains running between Vijayawada - Visakhapatnam - Bhubaneswar are being cancelled/diverted/short terminated to avoid inconvenience to long distance passengers. All stations between Rajahmundry and Duvvada will be manned and monitored by officials on a 24x7 basis. Extra locomotives, including diesel ones, are being stationed at important locations in the section, particularly at Tuni. Power cars, diesel generators, tower cars, accident relief trains and medical teams have been kept ready at the Vijayawada division.