People walk across the railway tracks in Dimapur. (Morung file Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 22
The Indian Railways has been reportedly enhancing measures to improve passenger safety and overall security of the railways. As the key security unit of the railways, the Railway Protection Force’s (RPF) main priority includes not only protecting railway property but also ensuring the safety of passengers, said Somnath Chakraborty, Assistant Security Commissioner (ASC), Railway Protection Force (RPF), Dimapur Post.
In this regard, Chakraborty told a press conference in Dimapur on June 22, that the RPF Dimapur post is leaving no stone unturned to ensuring safety and security. He said that the Dimapur railway station, with a relatively high passenger movement, is regarded as the gateway to Nagaland but is also a preferred point for transporting contrabands. “We are on the alert for this,” he said.
The jurisdiction of the RPF Dimapur post starts from the Diphu railway station till Sarupathar and the newly commissioned Shokhuvi station.
While adding that spreading awareness is an essential to keeping the railways secure, he said that the RPF Dimapur post is doing its part towards sensitising the passengers and the public in general. Besides general awareness about railway safety, he said that a major focus of the awareness drive has been on stone-pelting on moving trains and alarm chain-pulling.
He further highlighted the Indian Railways integrated helpline number— 139, via which any passenger can register complaints unlike the past when the numbers varied as per the nature of the complaint. He said that now passengers can even make inquiries relating to luggage retrieval. Through the Meri Saheli programme of the railways, he said that all-women RPF teams have been introduced to check on the safety on women passengers, especially those who are travelling alone.
According to him, the Dimapur post gets 2-3 complaints a day on average. Queried on the reaction time, he replied, “We react quickly and according to the merit of the complaint we start inquiry.”
Furthermore, he said that the RPF has stepped up anti-littering and anti-smoking checks. In the month of May alone, he informed that 59 offenders were penalized for littering and 23 for smoking. Since the beginning of June, he added that over a 100 offenders have been penalized.
