Visakhapatnam:In a touching display of community spirit, retired employees from Vizag are coming together to support train passengers during the scorching summer months.As trains make stops at Duvvada, these dedicated retirees, also including those who were with the VSP, rush to offer them bottles of cold drinking water.A group of senior citizens from Visakhapatnam doing this service has special focus on long-distance train travelers in the general compartments.For instance, when the Prasanthi Express travels from Bhubaneswar to Bangalore, these elders move on the platform offering water bottles to the passengers. They also do so to passengers on the Ratnachal, Amaravati and Tirumala expresses that pass through Duvvada station in the afternoon.Trains stop at Duvvada for just two minutes. The volunteers sprint to the windows and offer one-litre RO cooling water bottles to passengers in the general coaches at both the front and back of the train, as well as in the women’s and disabled coaches.On average, they quench the thirst of 200 to 250 train passengers daily. The free service costs approximately ` 3,000 per day, which the retirees themselves fund, along with inputs from some friends, alumni and voluntary organisations.Their efforts have been appreciated by passengers as well as by the divisional railway manager of the East Coast Railway.Kanchumurthy Easwar, a member of the ZRUCC, East Coast Rly secretary, Duvvada Rail Users Association, is leading this initiative from April 30 with backing from K Sandeep, senior divisional commercial manager of the Waltair railway division.
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