Indian Railways transports 6.75 lakh wagons loaded with essential commodities since March 23 amid coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown

NEW DELHI: Like all government departments, the Indian Railways is also doing its bit to help the nation in its fight against the deadly coronavirus pandemic. According to a statement issued by the Rail Ministry, the Indian Railways has transported approximately 6.75 lakh wagons of commodities including about 4.50 lakh wagons of essential commodities like food grains, salt, sugar, edible oil, coal and petroleum products since March 23.

More than 2.5 lakh wagons of commodities loaded in the past one week out of which over 1.55 lakh wagons contained essential items.

“The Indian Railways continues to deliver essential commodities to all parts of the country during the continuing lockdown; working big in close association with various Ministries like Agriculture, Chemicals & Fertilizers, Food & Public Distribution to ensure availability of essential items,” the statement said.

Amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown to combat the transmission of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Indian Railways has manufactured over 5.8 lakh reusable face masks and more than 40,000 litres of hand sanitizer at its different production units across the country.

The Rail Ministry said that Indian Railways has produced 5.82 lakh reusable face masks and 41,882 litres of hand sanitiser at its zonal railway production units and PSUs till April 7.

The official said that some of the zones have taken the lead in this regard like the Western Railway with 81,008 reusable face masks and 2,569 litres of hand sanitiser, followed by North Central Railway (77,995 face masks, 3,622 litres of hand sanitiser), North Western Railway (51,961 face masks, 3,027 litres of hand sanitiser), Central Railway (38,904 face masks, 3,015 litres of hand sanitiser), East Central Railway (33,473 face masks, 4,100 litres of hand sanitiser) and West Central Railway (36,342 face masks, 3,756 litres of hand sanitiser).

The Indian Railways has suspended usual production at its units and taken up the task of manufacturing masks, sanitisers, medical beds, stools and IV stands to meet the demand of medical equipment across the country.

The railways till date has converted over 2,500 coaches into isolation wards for COVID-19 patients across the country.