Manoj Kumar Akhauri took over as the new divisional railway manger (DRM) of Dhanbad division of East Central Railway on Tuesday from B.B. Singh.

A 1987-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, Akhauri was executive director (transportation, trucking and railroad) at railway board before his new posting.

Upon his arrival, Akhauri was greeted by Singh, senior divisional commercial manager Abhishek Kumar and senior divisional operations manager Sanjay Prasad, among others, at Dhanbad railway station.

Later, he held talks with the senior officials, in addition to RPF senior commandant Achutanand Jha.

Akhauri, who pursued MTech in applied geology from Indian School of Mines (ISM), told the media that Dhanbad being one of most mineral rich areas of the country assumed great significance for the economy of the nation and the Indian Railways.

"The zone (Dhanbad zone) is rich in minerals and the need of the hour is to harness its full potential for the proper development of the country," Akhauri said.

A native of Gumla district, Akhauri studied at St John's School, Ranchi, and completed his graduation in geology from St Xavier College, Ranchi.

He said improving the maintenance levels of railway facilities would be his top priority.

"This can be done only if passengers, who are the main users of the facilities, treat them as their own and cooperate in maintenance work," said Akhauri, who played a crucial role in developing the freight corridor in Indian Railways.

He added that he would also carry out awareness programmes. "The level of maintenance in Northern Railway and Western Railway is better due to greater cooperation of passengers," said Akhauri.

Reminiscing his student days in Dhanbad, Akhauri said there used to be a railway cinema hall on Station Road where tickets were modestly priced at Rs 2.50.

Dhanbad division comprising 116 stations and halts, is third highest revenue generating division of the country because of freight operations.