Commissioner of Rly safety cites concern over encroachments

Concerned over growing encroachments beside railway tracks, the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Eastern Circle expressed his displeasure to the General Manager of Eastern and South Eastern Railway.

Pramod Kumar Acharya, the commissioner, warned the General Manager that he could withdraw the rail service from some routes if such encroachments continue growing.

"Recently, we were discussing this issue in an informal conversation. He was worried about the encroachments alongside some routes. He even warned me that he could withdraw train services from those routes for the sake of safety," said S N Agrawal, General Manager, Eastern and South Eastern Railway.

"This problem is particularly in the Eastern railway. We'll discuss the matter with the state government," Agrawal said at the sideline of a press conference on Wednesday. However, the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway presented highlights of their performances during 2016-17. "ER succeeded in loading 35.45 metric tonnne of coal and 24.67 MT of general goods. ER also earned Rs 4,533.10 crore from freight loading and carried 118.34 crores of passengers this year. ER earned Rs 2,572 crore from passenger traffic," Agrawal informed.

"The goods earning of the South Eastern Railway is Rs 11,555.75 crore in 2016-17 and the passenger earning was Rs 1,924.75 crore. The surplus earning in 2016-17 is Rs 5,940.74 crore," Agrawal further said, adding that "South Eastern Railway loaded 147.73 MT freight in 2016-17.

About the passenger amenities of the Railways, the General Manager pointed out various steps which were already taken. "In ER, 134 Point of Sale machines have been introduced to promote digital payment while, wi-fi has been provided at Howrah and Sealdah stations and will be provided at Burdwan, Asansol and Bhagalpur very shortly," the General Manager said. It was mentioned that the South Eastern Railway recorded only two accidents in 2016-17.