With cyclone Dana intensifying with every passing day, the Sealdah division of the Eastern Railway, having a rail network near coastal areas, is gearing up with precautionary measures to control the effect of rain and storm.
Statesman News Service | Kolkata | October 23, 2024 10:16 am
With cyclone Dana intensifying with every passing day, the Sealdah division of the Eastern Railway, having a rail network near coastal areas, is gearing up with precautionary measures to control the effect of rain and storm.
To begin with, the divisional railway has decided to man the emergency control by officers on 24-25 October. The authorities are also installing pumps at critical places to combat possible waterlogging. DG sets and emergency lights are being arranged in all big stations, especially at Sealdah and Kolkata while plastic sheets are also being arranged in case severe storm damages platform sheds and sheds at concourse area. Apart from this, critical locations including Namkhana, Diamond Harbour, Hasnabad and so on are being manned with adequate staff of the engineering and signal and telecom department to combat the crisis situation. As learnt from the divisional sources, tower wagons have been kept ready with proper manpower so as to move them in case of any possible overhead wire problem.
Interestingly, as drivers on the move are the best informers, the division is giving particular emphasis on sensitising them for staying alert. The division has also decided to keep stationed diesel locos along with drivers at key locations like Sealdah, Dum Dum, Barasat, Naihati, Ranaghat by Thursday. In addition, stabling of rakes are also to be done with precautions to avoid adverse repercussions of cyclonic storms.
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According to sources, the division would also make public announcements at all stations to keep commuters informed in case of any disruption in service. Advertisement boards and hoardings placed at different stations would also be removed to prevent potential danger during the cyclonic storm.
As learnt from the railways, the division has also decided to deploy security personnel round-the-clock throughout the division.
The Eastern Naval Command, in coordination with Naval Officers-in-Charge (NOIC) in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal, has activated a comprehensive disaster response plan.
Despite threat posed to their lives due to possible strike of cyclone Dana, a section of residents in a vulnerable pocket of Odisha’s Kendrapara district refused to be evacuated from their houses on the ground that the government has ignored their forest right act claim in conferring them the land record of rights.
Cyclone Dana, which is expected to hit the Odisha coast on Thursday, will have a partial impact on the weather of Bihar as well, said the weather department here.