Bahanaga: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to visit Balasore, Bahanaga to offer gratitude to good samaritans, health staff & authorities | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will visit Bahanaga and Balasore in Odisha on June 21, over two weeks after the rail accident that claimed 290 lives and left over 1,200 injured. The minister will thank the good samaritans who were first responders, doctors and medical staff besides the authorities who helped in the rescue and restoration of the train mishap.
Sources said while the minister will take part in the International Yoga Day event at Balasore, he will hold meetings with the authorities concerned who played the key role after the train tragedy. Vaishnaw had camped at the accident site till the rescue operation was complete and train services were restored.
“It’s locals who first rushed to the accident site soon after the accident and played a major role during the entire rescue operation. So, it’s important for the minister to visit Bahanaga and offer his gratitude to people there,” said a railway ministry source.
Deepak Ranjan Behera, an ex-Army personnel, who had led the rescue operation with a group of locals, said, “It will be great, if the minister visits this place and interacts with people who gave their selfless service during the crisis.” Behera had carried more than 40 persons from the accident site to ambulances for immediate shifting to hospitals.
The locals from Bahanaga not only rushed the injured from the accident site to hospitals but they came forward to offer food and water.
Vaishnaw during his tenure as a bureaucrat had an experience in disaster management as in 1999 he had handled the super cyclone crisis as collector of Balasore district.