Title - Railways hopes to make hay while sun shines

VISAKHAPATNAM: Though the monsoons signal a lean period for the Indian Railways and the Waltair division of the East Coast Railways (ECoR) is no exception, this year the division is hoping that its revenues will not hit the brakes thanks to poor rainfall so far.Each year during the monsoon months from mid-June to September, revenues of the Waltair division take a hit as mining activities come to a grinding halt, affecting freight transport, and passenger traffic too slows down. While admitting that the monsoon revenues of the division usually show a downslide as compared to the summer and winter months, Anil Kumar, divisional railway manager, Waltair division, ECoR, said that this year they were hoping that the division would not be affected much as there have been no massive rains since the beginning of monsoons till Saturday. "The reopening of educational institutions and unfriendly weather for railway passengers as well as cargo transport are the primary reasons for the slackening of traffic and dip in revenues. However, we always try to recoup the monsoon losses in the other seasons. This year, we are better off as compared to last year's earnings till June," Anil Kumar said.

In fact, on an average, the Waltair division garners about Rs 300 crore annually by handling 3.3 crore passengers from all the railway stations falling within its limits, including the Visakhapatnam railway station. But during the monsoon months last fiscal 2012-13, the division's revenues slid to Rs 50 to Rs 60 crore as against the average of Rs 75 crore in the three winter or summer months last year.

Apart from passenger traffic, the division also faces massive difficulties in freight loading, particularly ores such as iron ore and coal, during the rainy season. The Waltair division garners about Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 crore from the freight traffic alone each year. In 2012-13, it mopped up Rs 5275.83 crore by handling 51.54 million tons of cargo such as iron ore, gypsum, alumina and steel.

"During the rainy season, the freight loading earnings fall to nearly Rs 900-Rs 1,000 crore for the monsoon months as against average earnings of Rs 1,250 crore during the other seasons. This is mainly because mining activity comes to a standstill and frequent disruptions take place on the railway tracks," a railway officer said.

During the monsoons last year, nearly 10 disruptions such as landslides occurred on the 446-km long Kottavalasa-Kirandul railway line connecting Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattishgarh, he added. It may be mentioned that the division suffered a loss of around Rs 60 crore due to disruptions, mainly landslides, last year.

The railways deploys special patrolling teams comprising gangmen at vulnerable points on the railway lines during the rainy season to protect the tracks from landslides and other disruptions caused by rains. "Each year we face problems due to rains despite taking preventive measures including deployment of special patrolling teams," a railways officer said.