Suspension Of Train Services To Chhattisgarh: Decision Likely By Evening, Says ECoR

Bhubaneswar: A day after the Odisha government urged the railway board to cancel all passenger trains to Chhattisgarh in view of the rising Covid-19 graph, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) authorities on Friday said that a decision is likely to be taken on the issue by evening.

Kaushalendra Khadanga, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of ECoR said, “The issue of suspension of train services to and from Chhattisgarh from Odisha is being discussed among senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Railways and the State government. We are expecting a decision by this evening.”

Khadanga said that at present 19 pairs of trains are operating from Chhattisgarh and out of which 15 pairs either origin or terminate under East Coast Railway jurisdiction. Apart from this, five pairs have connectivity to the Southern parts of the country.

At present, the East Coast Railways have resumed nearly 82 % of the train services and the target is to achieve 86 % resumptionof services by April end.

Howeverin view of the surge in Covid-19 cases in the bordering districts of Odisha, the State government on Thursday requested the Railway Board to cancel all passenger train services to Chhattisgarh, with effect from April 10.

In a letter to Railway Board chairman Suneet Sharma, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatrarequested to ensure that all passengers travelling to Odisha, from anywhere by train, must have an RTPCR negative test report of maximum 72 hours before the start of journey or a second dose vaccination certificate. This restriction shall come into force from boarding date of April 10, 2021.

“Even though the situation in Odisha is not alarming, the cross border movement of people is now impacting the Covid-19 situation adversely in almost all border districts of Odisha. In view of this prevailing situation and trend, restrictions on passenger movement by Railways may be imposed by the government of Odisha,” the letter read.

On reports of violation of Covid-19 norms, the ECoR CPRO ruled out that the video and photographs of overcrowding which are circulated on social media do not fall in their jurisdiction.

“In East Coast Railway, there is no such problem as all Covid-19 norms are being followed. There are separate pathways for boarding de-boarding and circles have been marked on platforms to maintain social distancing. Apart from this, single entry and exit points have been identified and no platform tickets are being issued. No person can enter railway station without confirmed tickets,” Khadanga.