Cyclone Amphan: Odisha Seeks Suspension of ‘Shramik Special’ Trains Temporarily

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has requested the Centre temporarily suspend running of ‘Shramik Special’ trains to the state’s coastal districts in the wake of the impending cyclonic storm Amphan.

Odisha Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy has made the request during a video conference with Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba.

The State Government has put 12 coastal districts – Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj and Cuttack on high alert for cyclone.

The State Government has sought suspension of the Shramik Special trains only for a temporary period in view of the cyclone situation and not a complete halt to their operation.
“We have urged the Centre to suspend running of Sharmik Special trains for 3-4 days as it may create problems for administration as well as the passengers amidst the cyclone,” Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), P K Jena, said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said the Government would put the best foot forward to stick to its proven ‘Zero Casualty” policy as cyclonic storm Amphan formed over the Bay of Bengal.

Reviewing the State’s preparedness for a possible disaster, the Chief Minister directed the Collectors to keep evacuation plan ready to shift seven lakh people to safer places if the situation demanded.

“Collectors may keep evacuation plan in readiness, in case of need to shift people from vulnerable low lying areas and those living in thatched houses. This would be fine tuned after getting further updates from the India Meteorological Department (IMD),” Naveen said.“As always saving lives is our priority. We should put our best efforts to save every precious human life,” the CM stressed.

As per reports, nearly seven lakh people in the coastline villages of the State could be affected by the storm which, as per current track projection, is headed towards north Odisha and West Bengal coast with likely landfall between May 18 and 20.

During cyclone Fani last year in May, Odisha had evacuated over 14 lakh people to safety.