Just after the rescue work at the Odisha train crash site ended, the Indian Railways have begun the track restoration work at the Balasore accident site, hoping to restore train traffic through the route at least by Wednesday.
The Ministry of Railways took to Twitter to inform that officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site. "Restoration work is ongoing at war footing at the train accident site in Balasore, Odisha with 1000+ Manpower working tirelessly. At present, more than 7 Poclain Machines, 2 Accident Relief Trains, and 3-4 Railway and Road Cranes have been deployed for early restoration. Officials are closely monitoring the restoration process at the accident site," read the post.
Earlier, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw too had reiterated that the objective was to start operating train service through the sector in a normal way latest by Wednesday morning.
South Eastern Railway chief public relations officer Aditya Kumar told ANI that the capsized bogies have been removed. "Two bogies of goods train also have been removed…work of connecting track is going on from one side…will finish the work as soon as possible," he added.
As per the latest reports, around 90 trains were cancelled, mostly in the Southern and South Eastern Railway Zones, while 46 were diverted and 11 short-terminated.
According to the latest data released by the two zones, the South Eastern Railway cancelled trains such as the Chennai-Howrah Mail, the Darbhanga-Kanniyakumari Express and the Kamakhya-LTT Express journey commencing on June 3.
It has also cancelled the Patna-Puri Special train with the journey commencing on June 4.
The Southern Railway cancelled trains such as the Mangalore-Santragachi Vivek Superfast Express leaving Mangalore at 23.00 hours on June 3, Dr MGR Chennai Central-Shalimar Coromandel Express leaving Chennai at 07.00 hrs on June 4, Dr MGR Chennai Central-Santragachi AC Superfast train leaving Chennai at 08.10 hrs on June 4.
It also cancelled Rangapara North-Erode Superfast Special leaving Rangapara North at 05.15 hrs on June 3, the Guwahati-Sri M.Visveswaraya Bengaluru Tri Weekly Superfast Express leaving Guwahati at 06.20 hrs on June 6, Kamakhya-Sir M.Visveswaraya Bengaluru AC Superfast Express leaving Kamakhya at 14.00 hrs on June 7.
The Railways have short-terminated 11 trains due to the accident.
Death toll
The current death toll in the incident stands at 288 with 747 people injured. Of that, over 56 are grievously injured.
According to the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials, their personnel pulled out 44 passengers alive from the mangled coaches of the passenger trains on Saturday. Over 112 bodies were retrieved from the site.
As many as 1,175 people were admitted at various hospitals, including private ones, out of which 793 have been released and 382 were undergoing treatment, Odisha government officials said at around 8 pm Saturday.
A lot of the people who died in the accident are yet to be unidentified. Over 100 bodies of those who died have been kept at AIIMS Bhubaneshwar and the Odisha government is focusing on identifying the deceased. The state is also expecting relatives of the deceased to arrive at the state and efforts are on to coordinate with them.
"As per norms, the bodies will be disposed of after necessary medico-legal process and collection of DNA samples as per procedure after 48 hours," Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena told reporters.
Special train reaches Chennai
A special train from Balasore carrying passengers affected by the horrific accident arrived in Chennai on Sunday morning. Tamil Nadu's Health Minister Ma Subramanian and Revenue Minister KKSSR Ramachandran, were present at Chennai's MGR Central Railway Station to receive the passengers.
Ma Subramanian said special arrangements have been made at all major government hospitals, with 305 doctors ready to provide medical help to the passengers. " 207 ICUs and 250 beds have been arranged at six major government hospitals in Chennai. A medical team has been put together to examine the passengers at the airport as well."
The state has also arranged free buses to take the passengers to their desired destinations. "All the passengers are safe. Seven of them are nursing minor wounds while 2 more are being treated for serious injuries. We have sent them to Rajiv Gandhi government hospital for X-rays and further treatment," the minister said.
