Picture/Rajendra B Aklekar
India’s first Kisan Rail train was flagged off by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, on Friday morning.
The “Kisan Rail” train will provide seamless supply chain of agricultural and perishable produce. The first train was introduced from Devlali to Danapur. Train no 00107 weekly Kisan Rail will depart Devlali in Nasik at 11am every Friday and reach Danapur at 6:45 pm the next day. Train no 00108 Weekly Kisan Rail will depart Danapur at 12 noon every Sunday and will reach Devlali at 7.45 pm the next day. This train will have 10 parcel vans and one luggage cum brake van. Devlali is known as the hub of onions.
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The train will cover a distance of 1,519 km in 31.45 hrs on a single trip. It will halt at Nasik Road, Manmad Jn, Jalgaon, Bhusaval Jn, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Satna, Katni, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pt.Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn and Buxar.
Pune-based agriculture analyst and researcher Shrinivas Deshpande welcomed the decision and said Nashik has been known for onions and this new train will be of immense help to farmers in the sense that it will eliminate the middlemen angle and related cuts with farmers being directly able to book their produce for delivery. “They should, however, increase the frequency of the train for wider benefit and results,” he said.
The Bhusaval Division of Central Railway is primarily an agro-based area, where there is huge produce of vegetables (especially onions), fruits, flowers and other agro products and there is a huge demand for these produce in the Patna-Allahabad- Katni- Satna region. The Kisan Rail will provide a good market to the farmers for their produce. Aggressive marketing is being done by Central Railway with the co-ordination of local farmers, businessmen and APMC so that maximum farmers can benefit.
Flagging off the train, Tomar said, “The smooth transportation of agriculture produce to far-reaching areas so that the perishables are not destroyed been kept in mind in announcing the Kisan Rail. During the lockdown when everything was stopped, the farmers and railways have never stopped. Harvest of farmers was transported by railways and helped the Nation in achieving the goal of agricultural produce.”
“Railways is the growth engine of the Nation. Railways and Agriculture both worked even during lockdown and ensured the food grains reached every nook and corner of the country. He also said the “apples of Kashmir can be transported by railways to Kanyakumari”. The first train in India ran from Mumbai in 1853 and similarly the first Kisan Rail is also being run from Central Railway,” Goyal said.
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