RAJSHAHI, May 24, 2020 (BSS) – Around fifty porters in Rajshahi Railway Station were given foodstuffs aimed at lessening their livelihood related hardships being caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The West Zone of Bangladesh Railway distributed humanitarian assistance here on Saturday ahead of launching its special parcel service of carrying mango from Rajshahi to Dhaka.
West Zone General Manager Mihir Kanti Guha accompanied by his office colleagues distributed the foodstuffs saying the living and livelihood condition of the porters are being affected badly as railway services remained suspended since March 25 due to the pandemic.
He also said the role of the porters is very important towards operating the railway parcel service smoothly. So, the railway authority has started distributing food aid among them.
“We will bring all the 614 porters in Paksey Division under humanitarian support within the near future,” he added.
Mihir Guha said all sorts of necessary measures are progressing fast to launch the mango parcel service amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of the process, the West zone has installed disinfection rooms in both entry and exit paths in Rajshahi railway station to stem novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spread.
“We have installed the rooms at the directives of the railway higher authority,” said Ahsan Ullah Bhuiyan, Chief Commercial Manager (CCM) of the zone, adding health protective measures including social distancing and other protection by the passengers in general is very important amid the pandemic.
Meanwhile, local district administration has taken a decision that mangoes from Chapainwabganj and Rajshahi will now be carried to Dhaka, Chittagong and other places of the country through trains amid the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
For carrying one kilogramme of mango from Chapainawabganj to Dhaka, it will cost a trader Taka 1.50 only while carrying the same from Rajshahi will cost only Taka 1.30, said Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hamidul Haque.
The decision of procuring, transporting and marketing of mango from Rajshahi and Chapainwabganj to Dhaka and other places was taken at a meeting held at the office of Deputy Commissioner, Rajshahi recently.
With DC Hamidul Haque in the chair, the meeting was attended by the representatives of various Courier services, officials of the department of Agriculture, West Zone railway officials, officials of Rajshahi district and Metropolitan police, mango traders and mango growers.
The meeting also took a decision that a required number of trains will move from Chapainwabganj to carry mango only.
Mango traders of Chapainawabganj will be able to carry mango through train to Dhaka at a cost of Taka 1.50 per kilogramme while the cost will be Taka 1.30 from Rajshahi. The trains will be halted in the stations near Dhaka to unload mangoes.
In addition to train services, the courier services from Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj will also carry mango to Dhaka and other places of the country, said Hamidul Haque, urging the businessmen to take the opportunity of transporting mango from Rajshahi to Dhaka through train.
He said mangoes could be transported to Dhaka at comparatively low cost and requested the traders to contact railway authority in this regard to avail the scope.