Southern Railway steps up efforts to assist stranded passengers in Kerela

The second spell of heavy rains in Kerala since August 8 has so far claimed 194 lives.

Chennai, Aug 18 (PTI): Southern Railway today said it has

taken several initiatives to assist people in flood-hit Kerala

by operating trains through diverted routes and setting up

help desks to assist stranded passengers.

Top officials of Southern Railway, including principal

chief operations manager, chief engineers and mechanical

engineers, led by General Manager R K Kulshrestha, participated

in a review meeting to access the situation in Kerala, an

official release said.

"In order to get Kerala connected, trains are being run

to various destinations through the available diverted routes

of Erode, Dindigul, Karur, Tirunelveli, and Nagercoil", it said.

The release said 10 trains have been canceled in view of

floods and landslides in Kerala.

It said 21 passenger special trains started operating

from today, while some services were started from Palakkad to

other stations.

Catering stalls have been kept open round-the-clock to

cater to the needs of stranded passengers at major railway

stations in Kerala.

An emergency help desk has been set up at various

stations to assist the stranded passengers, the release said.

"Schools and temple halls have been arranged to

accommodate stranded passengers at Shoranur and Kozhikode", the

release said, adding that Southern Railway was coordinating

with the Kerala State Road, Transport Corporation to help the

passengers.

The second spell of heavy rains in Kerala since August 8

has so far claimed 194 lives.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)