KCR has urged PM Modi not to allow resumption of passenger train services

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to allow resumption of passenger train services to contain the spread of coronavirus.

He made the request during the videoconference the Prime Minister had with the Chief Ministers of all the states on Monday.

KCR said the movement of people through trains would make the task of monitoring the Covid-19 situation difficult and this may lead to spread of virus from one place to the other.

Since the virus effect was more in main cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, the movement of people by train could lead to a surge in cases, he opined.

The Chief Minister has also urged the Prime Minister to come to the rescue of the state government so that it can come out of deep economic crisis and also direct the officials to notify conversion of Red Zones into Orange or Green.

KCR said that since the situation in the areas which were earlier declared as Red Zones by the Centre have now changed, there was urgent need to change their category.

This would help the state government to start economic activities in those areas as well. This is important since the people have now realised that there is no option but to live with Covid-19 and reinvent themselves by following safe practices like maintaining physical distancing.

He apprised the Prime Minister of the measures taken by the state government to contain coronavirus in all zones. He said a request to convert Suryapet, Warangal (Urban) and Vikarabad districts into Green Zones was pending with the Centre.

KCR said that serious efforts were on to find a vaccine for the virus and if it fructifies, Hyderabad would get the distinction of giving the first vaccine by July or August.

He said reputed pharma industries were working on it and he was confident that a positive result would come out soon.

On the economic front, the Chief Minister presented a wishlist seeking rescheduling of loans and enhancement of the FRBM limit.

He said no state was in a position to repay the loans and hence the Centre should consider this demand seriously.