Mock exercises were conducted in the Alipurduar, Katihar and Tinsukia Divisions under the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to check the alertness of railway staff.
The first drill with the 2nd BN NDRF, Digberia camp, Barasat, Kolkata, was conducted at the New Cooch Behar station yard where railway officials from the Alipurduar division and Headquarters team of the NF Railway were present. “The drill accident occurred at about 5:12 am on 28.06.19 in the 15771-UPAlipurduar-Kamakhaya Intercity Express, when it (supposedly) hit a vehicle on the road at an unauthorised rail crossing between Alipurduar and New Cooch Behar where four passengers got simple injuries and one passenger on the road was critically injured,” Public Relations Officer of the NFR, Nripen Bhattacharyya, said.
A total of 50 NDRF personnel, eight SDRF Five brigade personnel, 25 members of Bharat Scouts and Guides, along with 150 Railway officials of different fields and 40 RPF personnel took part in the drill, it is learnt.
Manoj Kumar Jindal, the Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Pradip Kumar Hira, Deputy Chief Safety Officer/Mechanical, Northeast, Jayanta Gangopadhyay, Sr Divisional Safety Officer, Alipurduar, and other Divisional Heads of Alipurduar Division were also present at the site, while the Civil Hospital team from Alipurduar too got into action as they provided immediate treatment to the “injured passengers.”
A similar drill was also conducted at Tinsukia and Katihar on 28 and 29 June, respectively, Mr Bhattacharyya said.