Railway Flood Relief Team Conducts Mock Drill in rescue and relief of passengers held in trains during monsoon

Alok Kansal, General Manager Central and Western Railway in presence of Arun Kumar, Director General, RPF, Railway Board, New Delhi briefed the press at Talao Pali Lake, Thane on monsoon preparedness of railways.

He briefed about the pre-monsoon action taken over Mumbai suburban sections of Central and Western Railways like 7 additional waterways by micro-tunneling method at Kurla-Vidyavihar, Sandhurst Road and Masjid, Bandra, Vasai-Nallasopara; 4 additional waterways through RCC box insertion at Vadala-Ravli, Panvel-Karjat, Badlapur-Vangani and Kurla-Tilaknagar: customized solutions taken for flooding spots of previous monsoons like construction of drains along tracks, retaining walls to prevent ingress of water, about 4 lakh cubic meter muck removal and others.

He said these infrastructure upgradations have improved suburban operations in past few years. Kansal said that recently Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal reviewed the monsoon preparations and emphasized on adopting a holistic and long term plan. He suggested Railways to partner with Institutions like IIT Mumbai to study the efficiency of technical and civil work initiatives of Railways and local municipal corporations in handling monsoon rains.

Arun Kumar, Director General RPF said that suburban railways is lifeline of Mumbai and their first act in such emergencies is to ensure passengers do not panic. Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal while reviewing the monsoon preparations was impressed by the Railway's Flood Relief Team at Mumbai which uses boats with their force personnel. The teams are trained by NDRF for such exigencies. He also said that Railway Teams are ready for any such incidents and they are the first to reach and provide rescue and relief operations.

Alok Kansal and Arun Kumar have released the SOP for usage of boat and outboard motor by Railway Flood Relief Team. They inspected the Mock Drill conducted by RFRT at Talaopali Lake demonstrating rescue and relief of passengers in a train held up in waterlogged area. They also interacted with the RFRT personnel and encouraged them.

Ajoy Sadany, Principal Chief Security Commissioner, Central Railway, P.C. Sinha, Principal Chief Security Commissioner, Western Railway, Shalabh Goel, Divisional Railway Manager, Mumbai Division, and other officials were present on the occasion. All covid protocols were followed during the programme.

Railway Protection Force have formed a Railway Flood Relief Team (RFRT) on Mumbai Division, equipped with motorized boats and trained manpower. The objective is to provide relief in case of flood in Railways. To predict and wherever possible, prevent disasters, mitigate their impact and effectively cope with the consequences by designing effective, realistic and coordinated planning and increase the overall effectiveness.

As such, 5 Motorised Inflatable Boats with all accessories and safety equipment have been procured and stationed at various vulnerable locations. These boats can be moved at any location wherever required for immediate response. Each FRT team consists of one Sub-Inspector/Assistant Sub-Inspector and 6 other staff. So far, 15 RPF staff (5 women and 10 men) have been trained by NDRF. Training is being provided to more RPF personnel.

The team will be always in readiness during monsoon, from June to October every year. The teams will continuously monitor the rainfall especially during the days of high tide or when heavy rain is predicted by Meteorological Department and move to the place from where flooding is reported irrespective of the fact that train is held up or not. The team shall maintain liaison with their counterparts in Civil Administration, GRP, Disaster Management Authorities and Control Room.

In addition to this, RPF have formulated a well detailed SOP for the Railway Flood Relief Team like,

• Blue Alert – when the water level reaches four inches above rail level, preparation starts for movement
• Orange Alert – when the water level reaches five inches above rail level, team moves to the location
• Red Alert – when train is held up at any location relief operation starts after ensuring the water level is three feet at the location.