Title - Visakhapatnam : New DRM takes charge

An officer having good experience in open line and workshops, Anil Kumar has assumed charge as the new Divisional Railway Manager of Waltair Division of East Coast Railway (E.Co.R) here on Thursday. The outgoing DRM N. Kashinath has been transferred to Kolkata as Chief Safety Officer of South Eastern Railway (SER).

Mr. Anil Kumar has graduated in mechanical engineering from IIT/Roorkee in 1980 and joined Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME) in 1983. He worked in various capacities in North Frontier Railway, Eastern Railway, East Central Railway, Northern Railway and in Research Design and Standards Organisation, Lucknow. He also worked as Additional DRM in Northern Railway at Lucknow and was under deputation to IRCON for Malaysian Railways Project.  He was Executive Director/VDG and Chief Vigilance Officer of RDSO, Lucknow before he was transferred as DRM of Waltair. 

Interacting with the media after handing over charge to the new incumbent, Mr. Kashinath recalled the improvements on the passenger front and commended the general public and the media for their cooperation in undertaking various activities in the Division. A good number of new trains were introduced during the last two years. There were, however, some issues like some trains bypassing Visakhapatnam railway station and some delays in the provision of amenities like integrated security system which were pending due to paucity of funds.

CCTVs and remote cameras were provided outside the station with the help of the City Police as a stop-gap arrangement. Replying to queries, Mr. Kashinath said that a proposal to add two more platforms towards Gnanapuram-entry of Visakhapatnam station was made when the present General Manager of E.Co.R. Indra Ghosh was DRM of Waltair a few years ago.

Mr. Indra Ghosh wants the proposal to be re-examined now. On the issue of trains bypassing Visakhapatnam, he said that seven of the 12 of the trains being diverted via Duvvada are being re-routed through Visakhapatnam and the eighth train would also be re-routed soon. He said that no new trains would be diverted via Duvvada. To another query, he said that suburban trains could be planned towards Kothavalasa and Anakapalle but felt that metro rail would be better idea. Mr. Anil Kumar said that he would accord top priority to passenger amenities and safety. Additional DRM C. Madhusudhana Rao, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager M. Yelvender Yadav, Senior Divisional Operations Manager H.S. Bajwa and Senior Divisional Engineer (Coordination) G. H. Victor Joseph were present.