A special train carrying 14.5 lakh litres of drinking water is on its way to Kerala to provide relief to victims of the flood. The train, consisting of 29 tankers, left Pune on Saturday evening and will reach Kayamkulam Junction in Alappuzha, where it will be handed over to the Kerala government.
The train is a result of a joint effort by Western Railway (WR) and Central Railway (CR) and will travel via the Central and Southern Railway network, since sections along Konkan Railway in Kerala are inaccessible due to severe flooding. Alappuzha is among the worst-hit districts in Kerala.
WR dispatched a train with 15 tankers containing nine lakh litres of water from Ratlam on Friday. Each tanker has a capacity of 50 thousand litres. “We have organised the train to provide basic drinking water to the flood-hit State. The quality of water in each tank was tested before its dispatch. The train is expected to reach by Sunday night or Monday morning,” Ravinder Bhakar Chief Public Relations Officer, WR, said.
The train reached Pune on Saturday, where CR attached 14 more tankers to it. “A 15 HP pump was installed in quick time and temporary pipelines were laid to fill these wagons. Work started around 3 a.m. on Saturday and was completed at noon. The Pune Fire Brigade also helped in this endeavour,” Sunil Udasi, Chief Public Relations Officer, CR, said.
Southern Railway has also dispatched a special train of seven wagons. As many as 2,740 cartons of bottled water from Parassala Rail Neer plant have been sent, while the authorities are in the process of sending another 10,000 cubic boxes.
