Waltair Division handles over 9100 tonnes of cargo during pandemic

The Indian Railways has been taking several measures in its effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the measures, the railways even adopted the movement of Time Tabled Parcel Express Trains for maintaining an uninterrupted supply of essential commodities to different places in the country. Joining the endeavour, the Waltair Division too has geared up to operate the Time Tabled Parcel Express Trains across different destinations in the country. Senior Divisional Manager Waltair Division, AK Tripathi, informed that during this national crisis, the Division handled 603 trips of Time Tabled Parcel Express Trains carrying cargo of essential commodities viz. food items, groceries, medicines, medical equipment, fish, fruits, gunny bags, vegetables and other daily need items to different parts of the country, starting from 2 April.

The Waltair Division has handled more than 9,100 tonnes of cargo, carrying 6344 tonnes of parcel to different places in the country and has received more than 2760 tonnes of parcel, Mr Tripathi informed. The essential commodities transported included 4346 tonnes of mangoes, 15 tonnes of medicine and medical equipment, 98 tonnes of fruits and vegetables, 885 tonnes of fish, fish feed, 94.3 tonnes of milk and dairy products, and 904.5 tonnes of other products.

Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, Divisional Railway Manager, Waltair Division has complemented the efforts of the staff and officers in continuing the uninterrupted supply chain. He said that to encourage the small and marginal business entities, Business Development Unit (BDU) has been set up with the primary focus towards bringing the Railways closer to industry and trade. The Division is also holding interactions with the cargo movers to improve the loading and unloading environment and will continue the efforts to enhance the cargo movement, he added.