Train services in large parts of Andhra Pradesh continue to be affected as stretches of railway tracks beyond Visakhapatnam remain submerged following incessant rains in the past few days.

As a result, the East Coast Railway has cancelled several trains and diverted several others from Vizianagaram.

24-hour vigil

However, with the water level receding in many areas in Odisha, train services in the State are limping back to normal. Some cancelled trains have resumed running, though with escorts.

According to a spokesman for ECoR, patrols have been deployed on sensitive locations, that is, railway tracks and bridges close to the water reaching the danger level, for 24-hour vigil.

Special control room

A special control room, that has key heads of departments, has been opened at ECoR headquarters here for round-the-clock monitoring of the situation in view of the forecast for more rains in the next few days. The railway engineers and others are working on a war footing to plug breaches in the tracks damaged by the week-long rains.

Meanwhile, more than 2,000 passengers stranded on the route have been evacuated by buses from Balugaon to Solari stations and from there by special trains to Bhubaneswar. Indian Navy and Orissa State Transportation Corporation assisted ECoR in the evacuation, the spokesman adds.

>santanu.sanyal@thehindu.co.in

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