Southern Railway to observe "Swathi Day" in honour of Chennai Central blast victim

Remembering the twin blast victim Swathi Parchuri and re-dedicating itself to passenger safety, Southern Railway will observe every first working day May as "Swathi Day", a top official said today.

Participating in a condolence meeting here, Southern Railway General Manager Rakesh Misra said "we have decided to mark every first working day of May all over Southern Railway as Swathi Day."

24-year old Swathi, a software engineer with TCS, was killed and 14 others injured when two low-intensity bombs went off onboard the Bangalore-Guwahati Express train on May 1 soon after it chugged into the Central Station in Chennai.

Praising Swathi as a brilliant woman whose life was sniffed out in her prime of life, Misra said "on that day (Swathi Day] we will rededicate ourselves to passenger security and review our security preparedness."

Also, security seminars for all front-line staff will be held so that the level of vigil could be enhanced, he noted.

Passengers will also be sensitised on need for security precaution, he added.

He awarded railway employees who rendered assistance to the blast victims "notwithstanding the fear of another blast.