South Western Railway conducts disaster management mock drill

Mysuru: South Western Railway, Mysuru Division, in association with the National Disaster Response Force and agencies of the State government, organised a full-scale mock drill at Ashokapuramrailway station.

It was for testing the efficacy of the Disaster Management Plan that includes a range of activities enabling the personnel from different departments of the railways to handle the safety-related measures during an emergency. In a sense, disaster management aims to reduce, or avoid, the potential loss of human lives and property by assuring prompt and appropriate assistance at the earliest possible time.

The scenario was created where two general sleeper class passenger coaches SWR 02228 and SWR 90609 of Special Tourist train going towards Nanjangud derailed and capsized in Ashokapuramrailway station limits at KM 4/9-8 at around 10 AM. Immediately on receiving the message of the incident, the railway officials rushed to the accident site to carry out relief and rescue operations as per standard protocols.

The NDRF team led by J Senthil Kumar, Assistant Commandant and comprising twenty-three personnel and the team from the district fire brigade led by Rajureached the site within 20 minutes of notifying them; doctors and nursing staff from Railway Hospital along with ambulances were at the spot to provide first aid and assist in taking out about 25 passengers trapped in the two coaches. In the mock drill two fatalities and seven serious injuries were initially reported with 25 passengers trapped in 2 coaches.

Rahul Agarwal, SWR Mysuru DRM and other senior officials ordered and oversaw the rescue operation which lasted for about 110 minutes.

Minimizing the impact, be it loss of precious human lives or damage to infrastructure, are of paramount importance. Preventive measures are assigned the highest priority during such drills to mitigate the sufferings of the victims, as mandated by the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), said Agarwal.