Provisions made at railway stations for disaster management and railway safety

Provisions made at railway stations for disaster management and railway safety

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS 

RAJYA SABHA 

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3147 

ANSWERED ON 20.03.2020 

DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY AT RAILWAY STATIONS 

†3147. SHRI OM PRAKASH MATHUR: 

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state the details of the provisions made at railway stations to deal with the issues of disaster management and railway safety? 

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ANSWER 

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY 

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL) 

There exists an Institutional Framework for Disaster Management on Indian Railways. Divisional level, Zonal level and Ministry level Disaster Management Plans have been prepared with clearly defined responsibilities. The Disaster Management Plans have details of action to be taken in case of different types of disasters, officials to be contacted, their contact details etc. 

Railway stations are provided with contact details of important Railway officials under whose jurisdiction the station is located. Contact details of nearby Railway and Civil hospitals, district authorities, fire brigade, ambulance service, etc. are also provided at all railway stations. Multiple modes of communication are available at the railway stations to contact required officials in case of any emergent situation/disaster. Stations have been provided with fire extinguishers, fire buckets filled with dry sand and water and First aid boxes to provide immediate first aid. 

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Indian Railways conducts in house mock drills as well as with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) at regular intervals to ensure preparedness and operational readiness of the disaster response teams and equipment. Staff are trained in disaster management and first aid periodically. 

Railways are fully prepared to quickly access accident site for conducting rescue and relief operations in co-ordination with Local Government and Non-Government organisations. Railways have a network of 176 Accident Relief Trains(ARTs) and 175 Accident Relief Medical Vans(ARMVs) placed at identified locations which cover the entire rail network of Indian Railways. Apart from this, Portable Medical Kit for accidents have also been provided at identified locations to provide immediately medical help. Immediately on receipt of information about an accident involving or likely to involve injuries or death, ARMV is rushed to the site of the accident. Assistance is also sought from civil administration, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Armed Forces in case of major accidents.