Kapurthala rail parts manufacturer builds boats for relief, rescue efforts

Hanspal along with his two brothers Devinder Pal Singh and Sukhwinder Pal Singh, has so far supplied nearly 70 boats. They have fixed a target of making 100 boats for flood-affected districts including Amritsar, Barnala, and the Harike belt. They said that they will go beyond the target if the requirement would be more. As the water level is high in flood-hit villages, he has been receiving numerous calls for boats, Hanspal said.

Hanspal said the effort began a week ago, when his team started by making 10 boats a day. “As the demand grew, we ramped up production to 25 boats daily,” he said.

“The need is massive, so we are trying to meet it as quickly as possible.”

The company, which operates from two plants spread over four acres and has been supplying material for coach manufacturing since 1989 to the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala, is now fully focused on boats. Using MS (mild steel) material, each boat consumes around 1.5 to 2 quintals of iron and other material.

Hanspal Trading has designed boats of different sizes: small ones measuring 5×10 feet, capable of carrying eight people, and larger ones of 12×32 feet that can transport up to 50 cattle at a time. While motors are not available, the boats are designed to allow attachment of engines later and currently can run through oar.

“We even provided large boats for relief work in 2023 floods. This is the time when bigger manufacturers, like combine harvestor manufacturers of Punjab should come forward and make certain amount of boats. As combine harvesters industry is totally dependent on the agriculture so everyone should save Punjab and , should step in and contribute,” Hanspal said.

He added that several individuals including MLA Rana Inder Pratap Singh and his father MLA Rana Gurjit Singh have sent material to make more boats are voluntarily contributing resources for the initiative.

“The designs are ready, the demand is huge. This is about saving Punjab,” Hanspal said, appealing for more hands to join the effort.

He also said that use such material to supply parts to RCF so they are able to make boats quickly.

From the homepage

Kukis agree to free movement in big breakthrough for Centre, ahead of PM Manipur visit

GST rate changes: Why was this done, who is impacted how, explained in 5 points

Woman waiting at Bihar railway station abducted at gunpoint, gangraped