Coronavirus: Railways moves 1.6 lakh wagons of essential commodities

In an attempt to smoothen the movement of essential commodities across the country, the Indian Railways has transported around 1.6 lakhs of wagons of goods in the past four days.

Essential commodities like food grains, salt, sugar, milk, edible oil, onion, fruits and vegetables, petroleum products, coal, fertilisers etc are being transported by the Railways.

Follow live updates of coronavirus cases in India here

Since the movement of freight trains allowed, Indian Railways staff deployed at various good sheds, stations and control offices are working on 24X7 basis to ensure that the supply of essential items for the nation does not get affected, said the Railways in a statement.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking every Union minister to one state to monitor the situation in the supply of essential materials, the railways are moving goods from one place to another based on demand and feedback from the states.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

The Railways is working closely with the control room to set up the Union home ministry on the movement of goods.

"Close coordination is being maintained with the state governments so that rakes of essential commodities are handled smoothly without any delay, amid various restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID-19," said the statement.