Six-fold increase in food grain transport by South Central Railway in April

It ran a total of 457 food grain rakes carrying 1.23 million tonnes of food grains mainly to various locations in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal

Secunderabad-headquartered South Central Railway(SCR) Zone has registered a six-fold increase in grain transportation during April as making food supplies available to the masses remained a top priority across the country during the lockdown period.

The SCR had run a total of 457 food grain rakes carrying 1.23 million tonnes of food grains mainly to various locations in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, according to railway authorities. 

These rakes were loaded from different segments of zones in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, such as Nizamabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, Vijayawada, Tanuku, most of which are paddy cultivating hubs.

This large-scale movement was possible as the SCR authorities had chalked out plans to put freight and parcel trains to use for transporting food grains. For this, South Central Railway also coordinated with the Food Corporation of India, local authorities and private traders, apart from using methods like clubbing of two trains at common junctions and running on a single path.

"All these efforts resulted in the zone loading a record 457 food grain rakes with 1.23 million tonnes during April 2020, which is more than six times the loading done in April 2019. The feat is registered as an incremental loading of 522 per cent," the South Central Railway official said.