Amidst a major power crisis across India, the Indian Railways spent roughly Rs 150 crore in the last four months fixing over 2,000 damaged wagons in order to speed up coal transportation to power plants.
On April 28, India experienced a power shortfall of 192.1 million units as peak demand hit a new high of 204.6 GW. On Thursday, India's thermal power plants had an average coal supply of fewer than eight days, compared to the usual of 24 days.
As per a report filed by Anisha Dutta from Indian Express, data from the railway ministry showed that roughly 9,982 such wagons were designated as damaged in January, but that number had dropped to 7,803 by May 2, with the Railways able to repair 2,179 waggons in time for the country's peak coal demand.
A ministry official added, "The cost of repairing these wagons ranges between Rs 5-10 lakh each. Private contractors used by power plants began substituting manual unloading with JCBs. JCBs hit the interior of the wagons and damage them severely.
Earlier, this unloading was done manually. Now, it's being done through JCBs which have resulted in a significant increase in the number of wagons that are damaged.
On January 1, around 9,982 waggons were listed as damaged, rising to 10,687 by January 6. It was 7,267 on February 11 and 7,803 on May 2, according to figures. According to officials familiar with the situation, the turnaround time of wagons waiting for coal loading has grown from seven days to about 15-20 days as a result of diminishing stockpiles at the coalfields.
The operating duration of rakes has also been enhanced by 2,500 kilometres, providing them additional time on the track.
