Bhubaneswar: The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), Odisha has issued an urgent advisory to railway authorities to ensure safe and regulated train operations in view of heavy rainfall forecast triggered by a depression over the Bay of Bengal.
In a letter to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Khurda Road, SRC Rajesh Prabhakar Patil referred to the IMD forecast that predicts heavy to very heavy rainfall across the state on September 23 and 24. He directed officials to take necessary measures with ‘zero margin for error’.
The advisory directs immediate activation of Divisional Control Rooms and local Emergency Operations Rooms to be manned round-the-clock by senior officers from September 22.
It has also called for intensified track patrolling by deploying stationary watchmen at vulnerable bridges and launching continuous mobile monsoon patrolling on flood-prone sections.
Railway authorities have been asked to closely monitor water levels at bridges and tracks and impose immediate speed restrictions or regulate train movement if safety limits are breached.
The SRC further instructed positioning of emergency inventory including Accident Relief Trains, medical vans, sandbags, boulders and earth-moving machinery in loaded and ready condition at strategic junctions for rapid deployment.
For passenger care, the advisory stressed on ensuring functional emergency power backups, sufficient food stocks, clean drinking water and active helpdesks for stranded passengers at major stations.
It also emphasized maintaining seamless communication with local District Magistrates and the Special Relief Commissioner for localized flash flood warnings and enhanced night patrolling and continuous route monitoring.
