Railway’s Pune Division Conducts Joint Mock Drill with NDRF at Daund
Railway’s Pune Division Conducts Joint Mock Drill with NDRF at Daund
Pune, December 18, 2025: Pune Division of Central Railway annually conducts joint mock drills under the directives of the Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Kumar Verma and coordination of the Senior Divisional Safety Officer Rajendra Kumar Kathal, in association with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), to assess preparedness, alertness, and response time during major accident scenarios. In this connection, a comprehensive joint mock drill was conducted at Daund on 18.12.2025.
An artificial accident scenario was created wherein two coaches, CR 054720 Sleeper and CR 99706 SLR of Train No. 00128 Down Pune–Banaras Special Express, were assumed to have derailed, with one coach catching fire and passengers trapped inside. Upon receipt of the accident information by the Station Master at Daund, the message was immediately relayed to the Pune Division Control Office, which promptly alerted all concerned departments. The Accident Relief Train (ART) and Accident Relief Medical Equipment (ARME) were dispatched without delay, and messages were conveyed to NDRF, Fire Brigade, Ambulance services, Civil Defence, City Police, and other state government agencies.
The Divisional Railway Manager Shri Rajesh Kumar Verma, along with senior officers, medical teams, railway staff, and Railway Protection Force personnel, reached the site swiftly and commenced rescue and relief operations on a war footing. The NDRF team, in coordination with Civil Defence, Fire Brigade, and railway rescue staff, initiated systematic evacuation of trapped passengers using specialized rescue equipment. Fire brigade personnel entered the affected coach and successfully extinguished the fire, while NDRF teams carried out interior searches, including deployment of the Live Body Detection Dog Squad, to locate and rescue remaining casualties.
Casualties were rescued in a phased manner, provided immediate first aid at the site by railway medical teams, and subsequently shifted to nearby hospitals through ambulances arranged with the assistance of the state government. The ART and NDRF teams also demonstrated coordinated roof-cutting operations from both ends of the coach to extricate trapped passengers. All passengers were evacuated within a stipulated timeframe, and the entire situation was brought under control within approximately one hour, highlighting effective inter-agency coordination and operational readiness.
Senior officers present during the drill included NDRF Commandant S.B. Singh, Deputy Commandant Ashok Kumar, Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer Shri Jitendra Haral, Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer Narayan Maheshwari, Senior Divisional Engineer Shri Devendra Kumar, Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer/TRS Ankur Yadav, Chief Medical Officer Pune Railway Hospital Dr. (Mrs.) N.K. Mangla, Divisional Medical Officer Daund Dr. Srinivas, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Anil Pathak, Senior Divisional Signal & Telecommunication Engineer Rajesh Meena, Public Relations Officer Hemant Behera, Assistant Divisional Operations Manager, Assistant Divisional Mechanical Engineer Siddharth Singh, Assistant Divisional Engineer Ranjit Chhabra, Assistant Operations Manager Shilbhadra Gautam, Assistant Divisional Signal & Telecommunication Engineer Shri Santosh Kumar, Divisional Electrical Engineer (Loco Shed) Pravin Patil, Assistant Divisional Safety Officer Dilip Tayade, and other officers and staff from various departments.
Central Railway’s Principal Chief Safety Officer Chandra Kishore Prasad and Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Kumar Verma appreciated the prompt and coordinated action taken by all departments and participating agencies during the mock drill. The exercise reinforced Central Railway’s commitment to passenger safety through proactive emergency preparedness, seamless coordination with disaster response agencies, and swift response mechanisms.
Pune Division remains committed to the goal of zero accidents and ensuring rapid and effective response in the event of any untoward incident. Such joint mock drills will continue to be conducted regularly to further strengthen preparedness. The mock drill was organized by the Safety Department of Pune Division, Central Railway.
