Transportation of milk by Indian Railways from Renigunta in Andhra Pradesh to New Delhi through Doodh Duronto special trains has crossed the mark of ten crore litres. According to the Railway Ministry, since their introduction on 26 March 2020, these special train services were operated on an uninterrupted basis by the South Central Railway zone and till date, as many as 2502 milk tankers were transported through 443 train trips. Transportation of milk by Doodh Duronto special trains from Renigunta to the national capital has been very important and crucial to meet the country’s essential requirements, the Railway Ministry stated.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, to cater to the milk needs of the people in New Delhi as well as surrounding regions, milk tankers were being attached to weekly Superfast Trains. When the pandemic-induced nationwide lockdown was implemented by the government, to supplement the cause, the South Central Railway zone had started this unique concept of running Doodh Duronto special train services by exclusively attaching milk tankers. The zonal railway has been running these special trains on par with Indian Railways’ mail express trains by covering 2300 kilometres distance from Renigunta to Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station within a reasonable time of 30 hours.
According to the ministry, Doodh Duronto special trains are normally operated with six milk tankers, with each tanker having 40,000 liters capacity i.e., one train carrying 2.40 lakh liters of milk in total. Guntakal Division officials are in touch with freight customers who are offering milk loading and they have been attending to their needs so that there is no hindrance in these train operations. Since the introduction of this initiative by the national transporter, these special train services have been continuously operated during peak Covid-19 times and the initiative is also being continued further in order to balance the supply chain of the essential items.
Source : Financial Express
