Coach drowned with dummy bodies to train staff in rescue operations

To overcome the challenges of rescuing passengers trapped in coaches in the event of a train falling into a waterbody, the Indian Railways Institute of Disaster Management, Bengaluru, will launch an innovative training programme

To overcome the challenges of rescuing passengers trapped in coaches in the event of a train falling into a waterbody, the Indian Railways Institute of Disaster Management, Bengaluru, will launch an innovative training programme on Monday.

The institute has created a waterbody on its campus where a coach cut into three pieces has been submerged. With dummy bodies kept in the damaged coach under water, railway rescue staff would be engaged to launch rescue operations along with experts from the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force.

Safety officials from across the Indian Railways will be participating in this five-day specialised training in under water rescue operations. Railway staff posted to the accident relief trains stationed at major junctions across the network will also participate in the first-of-its-kind-programme, sources in the railways said on Sunday.

“Rescue/retrieval from coaches fallen in waterbodies during accidents remains a major challenge even today. The railways have procured ultra thermic cutting equipment which can be used for underwater cutting of metal bodies and this exercise will provide hands-on experience to test the full potential of the equipment, a senior official of the IRIDM said.

The artificial lake constructed for conducting such training events was being utilised for diving under the supervision of expert trainers from external agencies. “One railway coach was cut into three pieces and placed in the waterbody to simulate different scenarios. Exposure to handling state-of-the-art equipment for underwater cutting is given for handling various challenging situations,” he said.

The trainees drawn from zonal railways across India would be exposed to the structural aspects of the coach to identify suitable locations for gaining easy entry with suitable cutting equipment, hands on training on the condemned coaches on the ground, coordination with ground staff while engaged in underwater rescue operations, recovery of bodies through doors, windows and other openings created for the purpose.

The Director-General, Safety, Indian Railways, B.M. Agarwal, will review the programme and assess the preparedness of the railway rescuers in the event of accidents in waterbodies, the sources added.