Rly transports 6.75 lakh wagons of commodities across country since March 23: officials

Railways has transported around 6.75 lakh wagons carrying goods including about 4.50 lakh wagons with essential commodities such as foodgrains, salt, sugar, edible oil, coal and petroleum products since March 23, a statement from the national transporter said Friday.

From April 2-8, it delivered a total of 2,58,503 wagons containing commodities out of which 1,55,512 wagons carried essential items.

This includes 21,247 wagons of foodgrains, 11,336 wagons of fertilizer, 1,24,759 wagons of coal and 7,665 wagons of petroleum products, it said.

The statement said the government has granted a slew of exemptions and relaxations for the agriculture and allied sectors with respect to the 21-day lockdown over the COVID-19 pandemic so as to ensure that farmers do not suffer from any adverse fall out.

The Department of Fertilizers of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is also making all efforts to ensure an adequate supply of fertilizers for the upcoming kharif season, it said.

The statement further said the Department of Fertilizers is closely monitoring the production, movement and availability of fertilizers and is in regular touch with state governments and Ministry of Railways on the same.

"Amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, the railways is also working closely with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and has moved more than 800 rakes carrying over 20 Lakh MT food grains across the country since March 24. FCI is able to meet the increasing demand of foodgrains by gearing up the pace of supply of wheat and rice throughout the country mostly by rail," it said.

Railways has also introduced 109 timetable parcel trains to supply essential commodities including perishable horticulture produce, seeds, milk and dairy products. Approximately, 59 routes for these special parcel trains have been notified since the beginning of the lockdown.

"With this, almost all the important cities of India will get connected for transportation of essential and perishable goods at a fast speed. These services are expected to be further scaled up as per requirement," it said.