Yamraj patrols Vizag Railway Station to spread awareness on COVID-19

At a time when following physical distancing and wearing masks are of utmost importance, the Waltair Railway Division has come up with a unique way to spread awareness among the public. On Thursday, as a part of these efforts, a man dressed as ‘Yamraj’, the God of Death, patrolled Vizag Railway Station, reminding people of the importance of following COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Stepping up its efforts, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the Waltair Division came up with this initiative to create awareness about the looming threat of the novel coronavirus. The man, dressed in black with a golden headgear, donned a face mask. ‘Yamraj’, along with the RPF staff, rallied along with the railway platforms, demonstrating the usage of face masks. Another RPF personnel accompanying the man dressed as ‘Yamraj’, shouted slogans highlighting the dire necessity of maintaining physical distancing to combat COVID-19 at the Vizag Railway Station. As a part of the awareness programme, the officials also displayed a poster which read – ‘Wear Face Mask, Save Lives’ and placards to further spread the message.

Speaking on the occasion, Waltair Division RPF Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Jeetendra Shrivastava, said that they wanted to make the drive unusual and different as compared to formal announcements or written pamphlets. Mr Shrivastava further added that the RPF is planning to come up with many such awareness programmes in the future. As many as 40 RPF officials of the Waltair Division took part in the drive.

Lending its support to the fight against COVID-19, the Diesel Loco Shed of Waltair Division had earlier fabricated a robot, named MeD ROBO, to assist the management of medical wards in serving medicines, food to patients, and towards patient care. Various other innovations including remote-controlled Ultraviolet C (UVC) based room sanitisers, currency sanitisers, paper/ file sanitisers, masks, thousand of litres of hand sanitiser for railway staff, Sanitising Tunnel, leg operated (hands-free) hand wash booths, and sensor-based hand sanitiser dispensers were devised by the Waltair Railway Division during the global pandemic.