New Delhi: Two special military trains will run this week to meet Army’s operational requirements at the northern and the eastern command amid the lockdown.
Sources told ThePrint that five trains had initially been requested to facilitate troop movement. They added that pan-India routes were being worked out based on the number of troops travelling from various locations.
Of the two trains sanctioned, one will begin operations from Friday and head to Jammu from Bengaluru. The train will run through Belgaum, Secunderabad and Ambala.
The second train leaves Saturday from Bengaluru and will head to Guwahati through Belgaum, Secunderabad, Gopalpur, and Howrah and New Jalpaiguri Station in West Bengal.
Army sources said these two trains will enable decongestion of the Category A and B training establishments at Bengaluru, Belgaum, Secunderabad and Gopalpur as well as assist in operational preparedness of active formations deployed at the northern and eastern borders.
The defence service typically sees a constant movement of lakhs of troops across the country who are returning from or going on training or leave. The Army usually requests for military special trains when units move from one location to the other, either on deployment or training.
The Army is also considering moving key appointments back to sensitive locations, who would be given special permissions to travel either by road or special aircraft. Sources said the Army is also looking into charter flight options to move troops from Delhi and Chandigarh.
Also read: Army tells units to observe ‘no movement’ amid lockdown, graded relaxation from 20 April
When lockdown ends
At any given time, about 25 per cent of the 13 lakh-strong Indian Army is on staggered leave and thousands are on training, explained a senior Army officer. To manage the load on the transport infrastructure, reporting days vary, the officer added.
However, when the lockdown was announced on 24 March, all troop movement was suspended in view of the quickly spreading disease. When the lockdown is lifted, there will be a rush of troops reporting back to their bases.
“As the lockdown would be phased out, about two to two-and-a-half lakh troops on leave would be coming back to join their bases around the same time from across the country,” the senior officer said.
He said ensuring special trains for the troops will make sure other trains do not get overcrowded while also cutting down on the troops mingling with the crowd, and thus preventing any possible transmission, the officer added.
An earlier Army advisory stated that troops will report to their nearest military station in case transport is not available. The Army is now contemplating having troops screened and accordingly quarantined before being deployed to their respective units to ensure the disease doesn’t spread, said a second Army officer.
Only personnel due to rejoin units deployed in northern and eastern borders who have undergone mandatory quarantine period and are found medically fit will be accommodated on the special trains, sources said.
Also read: Indian Army has disinfectant drone, UV gun that kills virus in seconds in its Covid arsenal
Agree completely — we need to be conscious of security issues
I would also like to reiterate, do not, under any circumstance , publish such sensitive information.
The editors should always be alert.
Suddenly remembered Barkha Dutta reporting on 26/11 & Kargil heights during War,,,very irresponsible journalism, in name of free press. Why this happens only with Print,,,food for thought
We have retired vibhishans they are doing it for earning extra money
It is extremely irresponsible of the media to publish this sensitive information on troops movement. It is very evident that Pakistan has nefarious designs on India secretly backed by China for its own interests. Hence no news as discussed above should fall into the hands of our enemy countries such as Pakistan and China.
So kindly refrain from such news mongering.
AK
Good job
Yes how can this be in published in public domain? Aren’t these paper guys sensitive to the info even if it’s an official release? Is it necessary to give such details? Pathetic reporting.
How responsible is it share such sensitive information pertaining to defence forces. Is being first to report the only yardstick for a publication to aspire for. The news is attributed to sources in defence. This little piece of information should be enough to raise alarm for the editorial team. They needs to do some serious soul searching here.