Amid heavy rainfall in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the South Central Railway (SCR) has cancelled 21 more trains and diverted 10 others due to waterlogging over tracks at several locations.
Heavy rains have also caused damage to the railway track between Kesamudram and Mahabubabad in Telangana.
Among 21 trains cancelled included 12669 MGR Chennai Central to Chhapra, 12670 Chhapra-MGR Chennai Central, 12615 MGR Chennai Central-New Delhi, 12616 New Delhi-MGR Chennai Central, the South Central Railway (SCR) said in a bulletin on Sunday.
While, 12763 Tirupati-Secunderabad, 22352 SMVT Bengaluru-Patliputra, 22674 Mannargudi-Bhagat Ki Kothi, 20805 Vishakhapatnam-New Delhi, and six other trains were diverted, the SCR bulletin said.
Due to heavy water flow at the Rayanapadu, the Southern Central Railway also diverted two trains, SMVB Bengaluru-Danapur and Danapur-SMVB Bengaluru, the SCR bulletin added.
The passengers of the above-mentioned trains were moved to the Kazipet Junction by road. Stranded passengers were transhipped by two ‘scratch rakes’ formed at the Kazipet Junction, as per the bulletin.
The railway technical word “scratch rake” means of a train readied using spare coaches, mostly matching the original train.
Earlier, South Central Railway cancelled over 20 trains and diverted more than 30.
Additionally, the railways set up helpline numbers to ensure the safety and convenience of people.
The helpline numbers are; Hyderabad-27781500, Warangal-2782751, Kazipet-27782660 and Khamman-2782885.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and enquired about the situation in both states in the wake of heavy rains and floods.
During his talks on Sunday, the PM assured all possible assistance from the Centre to overcome the challenge.
Telangana’s Transport and B ackward Classes (BC) Welfare Minister Poonam Prabhakar also interacted with the stranded passengers at Kazipet Junction in Hanumakonda on Sunday and enquired about their problems, a release said.
He was accompanied by MLAs Naini Rajender Reddy, Kavvampalli Satyanarayana, and Hanumakonda Collector Praveenya, among other officials, the release said.
The minister assured the passengers that the railway track would be restored as soon as the floodwaters receded and train services would resume.
Further, he spoke with railway officials regarding the restoration of the track and instructed the district collector and other officials to ensure that passengers face no inconvenience.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka conducted an on-site inspection of flood-affected areas in Errupalem Mandal in Madhira Constituency of Khammam district to assess the situation and oversee relief efforts, as per a release.