Hyderabad: Heavy rains in the aftermath of cyclone Hudhud caused damage to tracks at a few locations in Vijayawada Division of South Central Railway (SCR).
According to the SCR, a few locations between Elamanchili- Narsingapalli-Bayyavaram Stations on Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam rail route under the division faced problems due to ruptured tracks.
Following the damage, the SCR has taken up track restoration activities on a war-footing. "As part of the action plan to face the situation arising out of cyclonic weather conditions, we had kept engineering material trains loaded with relief/restoration materials in close proximity at strategic locations on the affected route in advance," the SCR said.
As many as nine special material trains, consisting of 174 wagons loaded with sand bags in 63 wagons; boulders in 92 wagons; quarry dust in 11 wagons, girders in four wagons and cribs in four wagons, were mobilised from Vijayawada and the adjoining Secunderabad, Guntur and Guntakal Divisions well in time to the breached spots.
To speed up the restoration activities, a team of Principal Heads of Departments led by SCR General Manager PK Srivastava proceeded to Elamanchili by a special train from Secunderabad on Monday.
In view of the breaches, the train services to and from Visakhapatnam got affected today and are likely to be restored tomorrow. However, long distance express trains towards Howrah are being operated on diverted route via Vijayawada-Kazipet- Balharshah-Nagpur-Jharsiguda-Kharagpur. Except for the Section from Samalkot to Visakhapatnam, train services have been running on all other routes on SCR.
A special train from Hyderabad (departure time 05:15pm) to Kakinada is provided with stoppages at stations as per the schedule of Godavari Express. Another special train from Tirupati (departure Time 08:50pm) to Tuni is provided with stoppages at stations as per the schedule of Tirumala Express, SCR said.
"These two special trains are aimed at clearing the stranded passengers, if any, at enroute stations to destinations situated up to Tuni in Visakhapatnam route," it said. An official release said the Army teams continued to carry out relentless rescue operations, following landfall of Hudhud cyclone in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Four such teams at Atchutapuram have rescued 117 stranded people in Pudimadka, a remote village 55 km from Visakhapatnam. Two other Army rescue teams, on receipt of information about a blocked axis due to uprooting of large number of trees and electricity poles, worked throughout the night yesterday and cleared the road communications in Srikakulam district, thereby evacuating trapped locals, NDRF and Navy rescue teams.
Presently, four rescue teams with boats are engaged in rescue of around 1800 people who were found stranded in inundated areas around village Konda Chakarapalli in Vangara Mandalam of Srikakulam district. Of them, 126 people, including women and children have been rescued so far and rescue operation is in progress to evacuate the remaining. Additional rescue teams of Army have also moved to Srikakulam District to extend help to the suffering people, the release said.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) said in a release that bus services to Visakhapatnam have been restored.
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