THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Dec 8: Anti-fog measures are in readiness at the Daltonganj railway station under the Dhanbad division of the East Central Railway.
Railway stations like Daltonganj, Kechki, Chiyanki, Kajree, Tolra to name a few, are highly prone to dense fog. The fog appears post-midnight and continues past 7 in the morning. diminishing visibility.
Station superintendent of the Daltonganj railway station Umesh Kumar said, “We have adequate numbers of the detonators. The detonators are fixed as per protocol prescribed by the railways.”
“The first detonator is fixed 270 meters ahead of the first stop signal, also called home signal. Again, the second detonator is fixed 10 meters further away from the first detonator,” added the railway station superintendent.
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On being asked as to how the railways could guess about the density of the fog, this railway official said, “Every railway station has a VTO. It is a visibility test object. It’s a kind of pillar having white and black colour. If the VTO becomes invisible, it is a confirmed case of dense fog.”
The detonators are fixed by the expert hands called FSM which is Fog Signal Man. He is to be near the detonator site but 45 meters away from it compulsorily to avoid any mishap, chances of which are very remote.
Fog in this region takes a toll on Delhi-bound trains every winter. 4 trains for Delhi stop at and pass through Daltonganj.
The four trains are Garib Rath, Rajdhani Express, Sambalpur Jammu Tawi Express and Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express (in the railway time table it is called Hatia Anand Vihar Express train) which terminates at Anand Vihar railway station.
It’s the Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express which the railways always suspend every winter citing fog as a major reason.
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The Station superintendent further said, “As per the railway notification the Hatia Anand Vihar express train is fully cancelled from December 4 to 28 February for Up and for Dn it is till March 1 all due to the upcoming foggy condition.” The railway official declined to explain why fog led to its cancellation.
Umesh Kumar said, “There are other pairs of trains fully cancelled for fog like Tata Amritsar, Kamakhya Ranchi, Santragachi Anand Vihar etc.”
There are a few more trains which are partially cancelled like Howrah to MTJ (Mathura junction) and some have a reduction of frequencies like the Ajmer Sealdah express train for the same foggy condition.
Meanwhile, Palamu BJP MP V D Ram has urged the railway board to resume the cancelled Hatia Anand Vihar express train as its cancellation till 28 February for Up train and March 1 for Dn train has most adversely affected passengers bound for Delhi from his Lok Sabha constituency.
Sources said it belies all logic as to how only Hatia Anand Vihar express train suffers from fog while other trains manage it successfully.
