Safety: Railways hold mock drill in Mysuru

By NT Correspondent

Mysuru: South Western Railway, Mysuru Division, in association with National Disaster Response Force(NDRF) and agencies of the state government, organized a full-scale Mock Drill at Ashokapuram Railway station for testing the efficacy of the Disaster Management Plan. This included a range of activities enabling personnel from different departments of the railways to practice safety-related measures during an emergency.

A scenario was created where two general sleeper class passenger coaches-SWR 02228 and SWR 90609- of a Special tourist train going towards Nanjangud were derailed and capsized in Ashokapuram Railway Station limits. Immediately on receiving the message, Railway Officials rushed to the accident site to carry out ‘relief and rescue operations’ as per standard protocol.

The NDRF team led by J.Senthil Kumar, Assistant Commandant comprising twenty-three personnel and the team from the District fire brigade led by Raju, District fire official also reached the site within 20 minutes, Doctors and nursing staff from the Railway Hospital along with ambulances were at the spot to provide first aid and assist in taking out about 25 passengers trapped in the two coaches. In the mock drill, 2 fatalities & 7 serious injuries were initially reported with 25 passengers trapped in 2 coaches.

Rahul Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, South Western Railway, Mysuru Division and other senior officials ordered and oversaw the rescue operation. The rescue operation lasted for about 110 minutes and was completed by 11.50 hrs.

Mock exercises go a long way in improving the preparedness to deal with disasters.