Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will flag off the first-ever Kisan Rail from Anantapur railway station at 11 a.m. virtually on September 9.
Earlier, Anantapur district had the distinction of running the first-ever goods train loaded only with bananas from Tadipatri to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai, for export to Iran.
The Kisan Rail will have 37 bogies to ferry 460 tonnes of several horticulture crops. The district produces one of the finest varieties of sweet lime, banana, pomegranate, papaya, and guava. The horticulture produce will be sent to the Azad Fruit Market in Delhi.
MP’s initiative
This has become possible with Anantapur MP T. Rangaiah taking special interest in getting the train sanctioned by the Railway Ministry and coordinating with the Azad Market Traders’ Association.
Meanwhile, district Collector Gandham Chandrudu has asked the farmers and traders to load all the bogies with the produce by September 8. The Collector has also asked the horticulture officials to document the entire experience so that the process can be fine-tuned later. Another train is expected to be operated on September 16.
“A few traders and horticulture farmers will also go to New Delhi along with the load to acquaint themselves with the requirements there. This will help them understand the ground reality and work on ways to realise our dream of operating the Kisan Rail every week,” Mr. Rangaiah told The Hindu.
The goods will remain fresh if the train reaches New Delhi in 36 hours, and the farmers can expect a better price.
Guntakal Additional DRM Suryanarayana and other railway officials attended a meeting convened on Saturday at the Collector’s office.