Railway Stations in the State will have adequate security arrangements by July-end. Accepting the lack of Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel at Ranchi and Hatia Railway stations, South Eastern Railway (SER) General Manager Radhey Shyam on Thursday said around 700-800 RPF personnel will be recruited in all the divisions of Jharkhand.
Shyam gave the information while answering the queries of mediapersons about the action taken by Railways to tackle the increasing crime incidents at the two stations of the State capital. According to Shyam, 256 trains of SER are escorted by RPF, GRP and RPS.
Moreover, Shyam expressed the problems being faced in Maoist-affected rail routes in Ranchi, lohardaga and Manoharpur.
“We need to make a tunnel in Manoharpur line wherein it is necessary to blast a portion. It is difficult since the explosives required for the blast cannot be brought by train due to the fear of Maoists,” he said.
As part of the ongoing Rail Yatri Upbhokta Pakhwada, he inspected several areas of the two stations, including computerised reservation centre, felicitation counter, catering units, enquiry office and retiring rooms. He even interacted with passengers.
Asked on further security facilities for the passengers, he said SER is ensuring boundary wall and CCTVs at both Ranchi and Hatia stations. Presently, CCTVs, also termed Integrated Security System, are installed at 11 stations under SER such as Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Hatia.
When asked about the dysfunctional metal detectors at the Ranchi station entrance since long, few toilets at platforms and poor conditions of enquiry counter as well as pest control facilities in coaches, he assured to look into the matter.
Also, he guaranteed to check the delay in printed tickets supply at small local stations of the city like Piska.
last year, both Ranchi and Hatia stations were equipped with escalators. This year, SER has decided to provide lifts and shed also.
Besides, the passenger friendly decisions, SER is working on the six earlier proposed projects, including the single line doubling pending in Ranchi-Barkamunda route and making the centralized platforms at the important junction Muri.
“The Ranchi-lohardaga line project will be completed by the end of this financial year in March,” he assured.