Cyclone Montha: Movement of trains hit as tracks get flooded in Telangana

Hyderabad, Oct 29 (IANS) The movement of trains was disrupted at Dornakal in Telangana's Mahabubabad district on Wednesday as railway tracks were flooded following heavy rain due to the impact of severe cyclone Montha, which crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast.

Guntur-Secunderabad Golconda Express was stopped at Dornakal Railway Station, while Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Konark Express and Adilabad-Tirupati Krishna Express were stopped at Mahabubabad Railway Station.

Meanwhile, the Sainagar Shirdi Express had to be stopped at Kondapalli in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.

At least 12 good trains also came to a halt at different railway stations in Andhra Pradesh.

The South Central Railway has already cancelled 127 trains and diverted 14 trains due to Cyclone Montha.

The SCR on Wednesday announced the cancellation of the Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Express and Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknuma Express, scheduled to depart on October 29 and October 30, respectively.

The SCR also announced that Howrah – Secunderabad and Howrah - SMVT Bengaluru will run on the normal route instead of the diverted route announced earlier.

The cancelled trains for October 29 included Nanded – Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam – Lingampalli, Visakhapatnam – Kadapa and Narasapur – Guntur.

Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, General Manager, South Central Railway, on Tuesday conducted a review meeting on the safety of the train operations and action plan towards preparedness to tackle the cyclone situation.

He held a detailed review meeting with all divisions, along with the principal heads of the departments, especially the Vijayawada and Guntur divisions.

He directed the officials to closely monitor the path of the cyclone for undertaking necessary measures. He also advised officials to closely liaise with the state government officials and NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) teams for monitoring the position of the railway-affected tanks in the section to ensure the safety of track and train operations.

He also directed to ensure Monsoon patrolling of the tracks in the likely affected sections. Stationary watchmen were also posted at all vulnerable bridges and locations to get real-time information.

--IANS

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