South Central Railway sends 3 tonnes of relief material to Kerala

Tirupati: South Central Railway (SCR) General Manager (GM) Vinod Kumar Yadav has called upon the NGOs and other organisations to come forward in sending relief material to Kerala flood victims through the Indian Railways as they would be sent free of cost.

Flagging off the dispatch of three tonnes of relief material collected by Sudarshan Auto Stand near Tirupati railway station main entrance on Thursday, he said, the last date for sending the relief material to Kerala free of cost was extended till September 15.

“Though the last date was August 31 which was extended by Indian Railways following the request from the Kerala government. So far, the SCR has sent 500 tonnes of relief material to Kerala from various divisions in the Zone while from Tirupati itself 43 tonnes was sent,” he revealed.

The latest consignment of three tonnes includes rice, salt, dal and other essential commodities. Vinod Kumar Yadav has appreciated all the employees of SCR, who have done remarkably well in extending a helping hand to the victims of worst ever floods and now auto drivers have reacted for a noble cause which should be welcomed, he said.

Auto drivers Khaja, leaders Koduru Balasubramanyam and others were present. Senior DCM Rakesh, Station Director K Satyanarayana, Station Manager M Subodh Mithra and others were present.

Later, Vinod Kumar along with Guntakal DRM Vijay Prathap Singh inspected Carriage Repair Shop (CRS) in Renigunta and laid foundation stone for intermediate overhauling shed for electric coaches. He also inaugurated an Officer’s rest house and interacted with officials and announced Rs 25,000 group cash award for the CRS workers for their work performance.

On this occasion, he planted saplings at CRS and inspected the Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) bogies maintenance. Meanwhile, the SCR Employees Sangh cadre met the GM and submitted a memorandum of demands.

They have requested to revamp the Rail Kalyan and Vinod Kumar has agreed to do it with Rs 60 lakh. He gave his nod to provide halt for Garudadri and Sapthagiri express trains at CRS.

He asked the officials to send proposals for underground pathway in front of CRS main gate-2 immediately besides agreeing to consider for filling up of vacancies. Leaders Anji Babu, KV Srinivasa Rao, Ravi and others were present.