Railways on overdrive to ensure availability of essential commodities

New Delhi: Indian Railways carried more than 1.6 lakh wagons in four days this week in order to keep the supply chain functional at a time when the country has gone into a lockdown to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Out of these, more than one lakh wagons carried essential commodities like food grains, milk, edible oil, fruits and vegetables.
An Indian Railways official said that while the whole country continues to be locked down, the national transporter is making all efforts to ensure availability of essential commodities through its uninterrupted freight services.
On 21 March, all railway passenger operations were suspended in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. No passenger trains were allowed to operate until 31 March, However, in view of the ongoing national lockdown, this restriction has been extended until 14 April.
“During the situation of lockdown all over the country, Indian Railways staff deployed at various goods sheds, stations and control offices, line staff, maintenance staff, security personnel and medical staff in Railway hospitals are working 24×7 to ensure that the supply does not get affected,” said an official.
As per information, 26,577 wagons were loaded on 23 March for essential commodities. These include 1,168 wagons of food grains, 42 wagons of fruits and vegetables, 42 wagons of onions, 42 wagons of sugar, 168 wagons of salt, 20 wagons of milk, 22,473 wagons of coal, and 2,322 wagons of petroleum products.
On 24 March, a total 27,742 wagons were loaded for essential commodities, while on 25 March, 23,097 wagons were loaded. On 26 March, a total of 24,009 wagons were loaded for essential commodities.
The official said close coordination was being maintained with the state governments so that rakes of essential commodities are handled smoothly, without any delay, amidst various restriction imposed in the wake of Covid-19. “To monitor the uninterrupted movement of essential commodities over the Indian Railways system, an emergency freight control room is working in the Ministry of Railways, which is being closely monitored by officials at very senior levels,” he said.
Indian Railways slashed the demurrage and wharfage rates for goods and parcel at half of the prescribed rates until 31 March. Moreover, validity of the rate policies pertaining to goods/container traffic has also been extended by one month i.e. up to 30 April. No haulage charge shall be levied for movement of empty containers/empty flat wagons from 24 March to 30 April. Free time for loading/unloading of wagons and free time for removal of consignment from railway premises has also been increased to double of the prescribed free time.