New Delhi: The first time in Indian Railways 'Rail Rakshak Dal" has been formed amid several train accident incidents across the country.
According to the Railways, the Rail Rakshak Dal will have employees of NDRF, RPF trained from Vadodara and Mechanical (Carriage and Wagon) department, who have been provided with equipment for disaster management and vehicles for travel.
"On the issue of faster evacuation in the month of November 2023, a committee was formed by the Railway Board comprising of North Western Railway (NWR), East Coast Railway (ECoR), Indian Railways Institute of Disaster Management (IRIDM), ICF and RCF. Under the leadership of NWR, the committee was asked to identify associated issues, suitable logistics, process, equipment and design intervention in ICF and LHB design coaches," a senior official informed.
Accordingly, the NDRF battalion visited and studied the disaster plans of various organisations including the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation, and the Kolkata Metro. Based on the field visit, study and suggestions from all stakeholders probable improvements were advised to Railway Board.
Later, the Railway Board directed NWR to form a road rescue team by nominating RPF and C&W staff and providing them equipments and a vehicle for movement. It was directed to commission the pilot project by August 15, for a period of three years.
Four locations for positioning of rescue teams - Bandikui (Jaipur Division), Merta Road (Jodhpur Division), Lalgarh (Bikaner Division), and Udaipur (Ajmer Division) were advised by the Railway Board, the senior railway official pointed out.
In accordance with the RB guidelines and discussions held, work for Enhancing Disaster Management over NWR, costing 3.4 crore, was sanctioned. Each team consists of five RPF members and 1 C&W personnel, with 2 reserves (1 RPF and 1 C&W). It was decided that team members (six in number) will work in pairs and members of each pair is referred as member 1 and member 2. They have been imparted seven days of on-the-job training at respective ART/SPART, and four weeks of training at NDRF/Vadodara.
The rescue team, which will work under the control of the Railway Protection Force, will be utilised for rescue during train accidents and as requested by the state government.
The teams have been provided with rescue equipment, uniform sand a road vehicle for movement, and have been positioned at their respective locations, Bandikui (Jaipur Division), Merta Road (Jodhpur Division), Lalgarh (Bikaner Division) and Udaipur (Ajmer Division) since August 15, the official said. As a part of their daily activities teams have been doing drills, identifying routes, maintaining equipment, and coordinating with local authorities
