In an inspiring incident, Tripura Health and Science and Technology Minister Sudip Roy Barman in his residence, felicitated Swapan Debbarma, 45, and his teenage daughter Somati, who averted a train accident on June 15 saving the lives of over 2,000 passengers.
Agartala: Minister Sudip Roy Barman called at his residence, S Debbarma&his daughter Somati,locals of Dhalai’s Ambassa, who averted a train accident on June 15 by waving their shirts at it after they spotted a stretch of railway track affected due to a landslide. (21.06) #Tripura pic.twitter.com/jrTN8n8klA
— ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2018
The Minister had invited them to his residence and had breakfast with them. On June 15, the father-daughter duo and other locals of Dhalai’s Ambassa, had waved their shirts before the train, after they spotted a stretch of railway track affected due to a landslide.
The Dharmanagar-Agartala passenger train had to be stopped after they noticed that a portion of the tracks had been washed away by floods. The driver got the indication and stopped the train just in time. “If we had not spotted the signal and stopped the train, it could have met with a severe accident,” Sonu Kumar Mandal, the driver of the train, had said. The bravery of the father and daughter duo has been appreciated by many.
Not all superheroes have a cape, some have a towel. Meet Swapan Debbarma who saved a train accident btwn
Ambassa & Agartala.He spotted a derailed track & jumped onto d track,waved his towel,stopped the Train from an accident & saved thousands of lives.Such heroes must be rewarded pic.twitter.com/Q6wFzFvZC3— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) June 19, 2018
“Had they not taken the risk in stopping the train, lives would’ve been lost. When I came to know of this, I called them at my residence and had breakfast with them,” ANI quoted Barman as saying.
Had they not taken risk in stopping the train lives would’ve been lost. When I came to know of this I called them at my residence&had breakfast with them. I’ll take them to Assembly&raise the matter to give them appropriate award as will be decided by govt: Tripura Health Min pic.twitter.com/0DLqm6TX6G
— ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2018
On Thursday, the members of Tripura Assembly unanimously praised the efforts of Swapan Debbarma and his daughter for taking such an extreme step. The state assembly on Thursday resolved to recommend 9-year-old tribal girl Sumati Debbarma for a gallantry award from the President of India and her father Swapan Debbarma for a job in Indian Railways.
Earlier, Northeast Frontier Railway had also announced a reward for Swapan Debbarma for his act of bravery and presence of mind. Tribal welfare minister Mevar Kumar Jamatia awarded Swapan with a cash amount of Rs 50,000 and BJP MLA Shankar Roy awarded him Rs 5,000.
