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It is believed that a short circuit trigged the blaze; coach was completely gutted

A coach of the Chennai – Coimbatore Duranto Express was gutted in a fire while undergoing maintenance at the carriage works in Perambur on Monday night.

No casualties were reported as workmen were not around when the fire broke out around 10.30 p.m. It is believed that a short circuit could have triggered the fire in the compartment.

According to Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service sources, they received a call only around 11.10 p.m. “A personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) called us,” said a TNFRS source.

Immediately, fire tenders from Sembium, Vyasarpadi and Esplanade were pressed into service. Around 15 fire fighters tried to douse the fire. “The situation was brought under control by 2 a.m. on Tuesday. Usually, we get calls regarding garbage fires inside the carriage works. Such a call is unusual,” said the official.

According to railway officials, the mechanical maintenance of the coach had been completed and it was waiting testing of its air conditioning system. As the Carriage Works or the ICF no longer maintains in-house fire tenders, workmen had to alert fire service units in Sembium and Vyasarpadi.

Rs. 80 lakh loss

The coach, which is valued at about Rs. 80 lakh, was fully gutted by the time fire tenders could reach the spot, sources said. It is learnt that the Railway administration has ordered a probe by the Senior Deputy Mechanical Engineer into the incident.

Prior to this, an AC first class coach had been destroyed in a fire at Perambur Carriage Works in 2006. The coach, which was brought from Thiruvananthapuram Division for periodic overhauling, was ready for delivery after the work.

It suddenly caught fire. Workers who saw the fire and smoke immediately alerted higher officials, who informed the fire service. Fire tenders from Villivakkam and Vepery rushed to the spot and put out the fire.

A major portion of the coach was damaged and the loss was estimated to be Rs. 10 lakh.

The elevated Janakpuri (West)-Botanical Garden corridor of Delhi Metro’s Phase-III will pass over the railway tracks on which Delhi-Mumbai trains ply as well as the Modi Mill flyover between Okhla Phase-III and Ishwar Nagar Metro stations.

“For crossing the railway corridor, which consists of five tracks, the DMRC is planning to construct a steel bridge to ensure minimum interruptions. This bridge will cross the tracks at a height of about 17m. The requisite permissions for starting construction work over the railway lines is expected soon,” a DMRC spokesperson said.

The Metro corridor will also pass over two loops of the Modi Mill flyover, which lead towards Ashram and towards Badarpur on Mathura Road. “While the length of the span crossing over the first loop towards Ashram will be 34m, the length of the span over the second loop towards Badarpur will be 37m. Segmental-launching technology will be used for carrying out construction on this stretch. The elevated Metro will come up at both the locations at a height of 17m,” the spokesperson added. The construction of this portion has already started.

Meanwhile, construction of the pillars near the flyover is almost over. The construction of the elevated Metro corridor over these two loops of the Modi Mill flyover is expected to be completed by the end of October.

“As the alignment of the corridor is passing along the Modi Mill flyover, the area available to engineers for construction is also very narrow. But the Modi Mill flyover has been kept entirely open for traffic,” the spokesperson said.

The Janakpuri (West)-Botanical Garden corridor is 36.5 kilometres long with 24 stations. The construction of the entire corridor is currently in progress and the work is expected to be over by the end of 2016.

Call it the Indian Railways’ shame in Jharkhand’s breathtaking bungalow town.

McCluskieganj — situated on the idyllic Chotanagpur Plateau 65km from capital Ranchi — is a classic example of how sustained indifference can put thousands of human lives at risk for decades.Back in the Nineties, a footbridge was proposed at the busy junction, but only to rust without a single day’s use. The reason is bizarre. The railways, which installed iron pillars and frameworks for stairways, conveniently forgot to join them with a common elevated landing to offer passengers risk-free passage over the tracks.This is not the sole howler in civil planning at a station that sees at least 40 pairs of halting and galloping trains — carrying either passengers or goods — pass by every day.According to retired IAF officer R.K. Prasad, low-lying platforms are the biggest threat.“I believe there are a few standard safety guidelines in the railway rule book when it comes to raising platforms. Unfortunately, none is followed here. You can’t make out the difference between tracks and platforms, especially after sundown, as both are almost at the same level. There are also no security barricades on either end of the three platforms despite heavy train traffic on this route,” said Prasad.

The McCluskieganj junction under East Central Railway (ECR) connects trains from Dhanbad-Bokaro to Daltonganj-Garhwa, from where the route splits towards Mughalsarai, Delhi and Mumbai. There are 14 pairs of trains that stop at this old station. These include the Hatia-Chopan Express, Palamau Express and Jabalpur-Howrah Express. Among galloping ones are Rajdhani Express and the Garib Rath. Local railway officials pegged the daily off-season passenger footfall at 800-1,000.

A journalist working with a local daily said that they had raised the issues with senior railway officials during inspections more than once. “Nothing has happened so far,” he rued, adding that the ECR authorities cited poor revenue generation and funds crunch for delay in revamp of the junction.

“People live on either side of the station and crossing tracks is common in the absence of a footbridge. Though there is a road for villages from Khelari, but that is an almost 8km detour,” the scribe said, recalling an incident a few months ago when a schoolboy had a close shave.

Sandeep Rajdan, another resident, added: “We recently saw what happened at Dhamaraghat in Bihar last month. Will only a tragedy jolt the railway authorities out of their snooze mode. Let alone a footbridge, McCluskieganj station does not have basic amenities such as drinking water. An elderly or an ailing person could collapse and die of thirst in peak summer.”

Dhanbad divisional railway manager (DRM) Sudhir Kumar did not take calls despite repeated attempts.

Additional DRM H.K. Raghu feigned ignorance. “I have to see files and that it will take some time. File an RTI to get answers,” he said briefly.

Do you think the footbridge will ever come up?

GUWAHATI – Passenger train services in sections of lower Assam were affected today due to the ‘rail roko’ agitation by some outfits over the separate State issue, with the North-east Frontier Railway (NFR) cancelling some local trains and diverting some long-distance trains via Goalpara.NFR PRO Nripen Bhattacharya said that passenger trains services in the New Bongaigaon, Rangia and Kamakhya sections were affected due to the ‘rail roko’ organized by the outfits between 6 am and 2 pm.Five local trains were cancelled during the day, including the 55801/55802 New Bongaigaon-Guwahati-New Bongaigaon Manas Rhino, the 55809/55810 New Bongaigaon-Guwahati-New Bongaigaon Passenger, the 15471/15472 Alipurduar Junction-Kamakhya-Alipurduar Junction Intercity Express, the 55753/55754 Alipurduar Junction-Guwahati-Alipurduar Junction Siphung Passenger and the 15469/15470 Alipurduar Junction-Lumding-Alipurduar Junction Intercity Express.

Five long-distance outbound (Down) trains were diverted via Goalpara. They are the 12435 Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Lucknow), the 12423 Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Kanpur), the 15960 Dibrugarh-Howrah Kamrup Express, the 12505 Guwahati-Delhi North East Express and the 12510 Guwahati-Bangalore Express.

Three other trains were temporarily halted at various stations for a few hours and later the resumed their journey.

सीतारामपुर - झाझा रेलखंड अंतर्गत विद्यासागर स्टेशन के पास डाउन रेलवे लाइन का ओवर हेड हाई टेंशन तार टूट जाने से रेल परिचालन कई घंटे बाधित रहा। घटना सुबह करीब 9.30 बजे की है। जानकारी के अनुसार जब डाउन लाइन पर अमृतसर - हावड़ा एक्सप्रेस आ रही थी, तभी ओवरहेड तार टूट गया। इस कारण ट्रेन स्टेशन के पहले की खड़ी हो गई। यात्रियों एवं रेल कर्मियों ने इसकी सूचना स्टेशन प्रबंधक को दी। उन्होंने वरीय पदाधिकारियों को स्थिति से अवगत कराया। लगभग दो घंटे की मशक्कत के बाद रेल कर्मियों ने ओवरहेड तार की मरम्मत की। इसके बाद डाउन लाइन पर रेल परिचालन सामान्य हुआ। इस कारण अमृतसर - हावड़ा एक्सप्रेस, पटना - हावड़ा जनशताब्दी एक्सप्रेस, जसीडीह - अंडाल पैसेंजर, दानापुर - टाटा एक्सप्रेस समेत कई ट्रेनें लगभग कई घंटे विलंब से चलीं। इससे यात्रियों को काफी परेशानी हुई।

Dhanbad railway police are going out of their way to make a difference in the lives of some of the most vulnerable and despised children — vagabonds at the station.
From August 30, Government Railway Police (GRP) at Dhanbad junction have started an informal, self-financed school for destitute children, the first such initiative under East Central Railway.
Children, who pick rags, beg or steal or just loiter, are seen at every Indian station. Traditionally, they not persons whom the railway police view kindly. The children, on the other hand, are plain scared of policemen, wary atbest.
But the GRP at Dhanbad station is making a brave effort to be a game-changer with 11 children aged between eight and 16 on its school rolls.
Though it’s been four days, the police may have earned the trust of Raju (8), Suraj Kumar (10), Ajay Kumar (12), Soni Kumari (12), Om Prakash (12), Akhilesh (12), Golu Bhuiyan (12), Pradip Kumar (13), Arbaz Khan (14), Ravi Kumar (14) and Mohammed Shakil (16).
It’s a rare sight, as any policeman will agree.
Children, many of whom the police know as pickpockets and drug addicts, troop in anytime between 10am and 2pm for a two-hour class on the verandah of GRP thana on Dhanbad railway station, depending on mutual convenience.
They also get books, pencils and copies and other stationery free of cost.
“We launched the school last Friday. Sunday was their holiday, so effectively, this (Tuesday) is the fourth day of school. On Day One, nine children came. The number has gone up to 11. It is encouraging,” said officer in charge of GRP (Dhanbad) A.K. Verma.
His fellow teachers are lady sub-inspector M.T.M. Tirkey and munshi Rajnikant.
Children, who live on station premises, are orphans or abandoned by parents or runaways. Though a few take up menial work, many turn to crime, sniff glue or inject drugs.
“But they are children, after all, and we have a soft corner for them,” Verma said. “We are at present teaching them alphabets and numbers. This apart, we teach them hygiene basics,” he said.
On the scope of their school, he said: “If the number of children increases, we may shift to a rented accommodation with the help of some NGO. Even if we don’t get external aid, we can manage expenses on our own if each of our 70 colleagues donate Rs 50 a month,” Verma said.
On Day One, children were given aset of new clothes and a haircut. “We funded these from out of our own pocket,” Verma said. “We thought, if it’s a new start, there should be a special marker. Lice-infested hair and dreadlocks aren’t conducive to learning ABC,” he smiled.
Verma, while thanking NGO Childline for help, admitted a lot needed to be done.
“We need shelters with de-addiction centres, vocational courses,” he said. “If these young lives get an overhaul, they won’t grow up into criminals.”
He added society overlooked their innate goodness. “Only this Sunday, eight-year-old Raju returned a cellphone to a passenger that had fallen on the platform. Don’t you think Raju deserves a better life?”

Call it the Indian Railways’ shame in Jharkhand’s breathtaking bungalow town.

McCluskieganj — situated on the idyllic Chotanagpur Plateau 65km from capital Ranchi — is a classic example of how sustained indifference can put thousands of human lives at risk for decades.Back in the Nineties, a footbridge was proposed at the busy junction, but only to rust without a single day’s use. The reason is bizarre. The railways, which installed iron pillars and frameworks for stairways, conveniently forgot to join them with a common elevated landing to offer passengers risk-free passage over the tracks.This is not the sole howler in civil planning at a station that sees at least 40 pairs of halting and galloping trains — carrying either passengers or goods — pass by every day.According to retired IAF officer R.K. Prasad, low-lying platforms are the biggest threat.“I believe there are a few standard safety guidelines in the railway rule book when it comes to raising platforms. Unfortunately, none is followed here. You can’t make out the difference between tracks and platforms, especially after sundown, as both are almost at the same level. There are also no security barricades on either end of the three platforms despite heavy train traffic on this route,” said Prasad.

The McCluskieganj junction under East Central Railway (ECR) connects trains from Dhanbad-Bokaro to Daltonganj-Garhwa, from where the route splits towards Mughalsarai, Delhi and Mumbai. There are 14 pairs of trains that stop at this old station. These include the Hatia-Chopan Express, Palamau Express and Jabalpur-Howrah Express. Among galloping ones are Rajdhani Express and the Garib Rath. Local railway officials pegged the daily off-season passenger footfall at 800-1,000.

A journalist working with a local daily said that they had raised the issues with senior railway officials during inspections more than once. “Nothing has happened so far,” he rued, adding that the ECR authorities cited poor revenue generation and funds crunch for delay in revamp of the junction.

“People live on either side of the station and crossing tracks is common in the absence of a footbridge. Though there is a road for villages from Khelari, but that is an almost 8km detour,” the scribe said, recalling an incident a few months ago when a schoolboy had a close shave.

Sandeep Rajdan, another resident, added: “We recently saw what happened at Dhamaraghat in Bihar last month. Will only a tragedy jolt the railway authorities out of their snooze mode. Let alone a footbridge, McCluskieganj station does not have basic amenities such as drinking water. An elderly or an ailing person could collapse and die of thirst in peak summer.”

Dhanbad divisional railway manager (DRM) Sudhir Kumar did not take calls despite repeated attempts.

Additional DRM H.K. Raghu feigned ignorance. “I have to see files and that it will take some time. File an RTI to get answers,” he said briefly.

Do you think the footbridge will ever come up?

New Delhi: “Gyanodaya Express”, an educational train of Delhi University, was today flagged off by the Minister of State for Railways, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dinesh Singh.In partnership with the Railways and the IRCTC, the train, the third one in line, is carrying almost 900 students and accompanying faculty and staff and will journey through Haryana and Punjab and return to Delhi on September 8. Among the passengers are 150 students and teachers from the UK who are here in Delhi to participate in this educational journey.

GUWAHATI – Passenger train services in sections of lower Assam were affected today due to the ‘rail roko’ agitation by some outfits over the separate State issue, with the North-east Frontier Railway (NFR) cancelling some local trains and diverting some long-distance trains via Goalpara.NFR PRO Nripen Bhattacharya said that passenger trains services in the New Bongaigaon, Rangia and Kamakhya sections were affected due to the ‘rail roko’ organized by the outfits between 6 am and 2 pm.Five local trains were cancelled during the day, including the 55801/55802 New Bongaigaon-Guwahati-New Bongaigaon Manas Rhino, the 55809/55810 New Bongaigaon-Guwahati-New Bongaigaon Passenger, the 15471/15472 Alipurduar Junction-Kamakhya-Alipurduar Junction Intercity Express, the 55753/55754 Alipurduar Junction-Guwahati-Alipurduar Junction Siphung Passenger and the 15469/15470 Alipurduar Junction-Lumding-Alipurduar Junction Intercity Express.

Five long-distance outbound (Down) trains were diverted via Goalpara. They are the 12435 Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Lucknow), the 12423 Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (via Kanpur), the 15960 Dibrugarh-Howrah Kamrup Express, the 12505 Guwahati-Delhi North East Express and the 12510 Guwahati-Bangalore Express.

Three other trains were temporarily halted at various stations for a few hours and later the resumed their journey.

भारत निर्वाचन आयोग की योजनाओं को अधिकारी किस प्रकार से पलीता लगा रहे हैं, इसकी एक बानगी टटीरी रेलवे स्टेशन के पास देखने को मिली। भारत निर्वाचन आयोग की ओर से मतदाताओं को जारी किए जाने वाले फोटो पहचान-पत्रों को किसी कर्मचारी ने मतदाताओं को वितरित न कर रेलवे ट्रैक पर फेंक दिया। एक छात्र ने पहचान पत्रों को उठाकर मतदाताओं तक पहुंचाया।
भारत निर्वाचन आयोग देश के हर मतदाता को उसका फोटो पहचान पत्र दिलाने में जुटा है, इसके लिए तहसील मुख्यालय के साथ अभियान चलाकर गांव-गांव में शिविर लगाकर मतदाताओं के फोटो पहचान पत्र बनाए जाते हैं और कुछ दिन बाद गांव में पहुंच कर ही वितरित कर दिए जाते हैं। अब निर्वाचन आयोग की इस महत्वाकांक्षी योजना को किस प्रकार पलीता लगा रहे हैं, इसका एक उदाहरण बागपत रोड रेलवे स्टेशन के पास टटीरी रेलवे ट्रैक पर देखने को मिला। ट्रैक के बीच सैकड़ों मतदाता पहचान-पत्र बिखरे पड़े थे, जिन्हें बच्चे उठाकर ले जा रहे थे तो कुछ से बच्चे खेल रहे थे। सभी पहचान-पत्र हिसावदा गांव के मतदाताओं के थे। इत्तेफाक से हिसावदा गांव का ही एक छात्र सचिन पुत्र सत्यवीर रेलवे स्टेशन पर अपने रिश्तेदार को छोड़ कर घर लौट रहा था, कुछ बच्चों के हाथ में पहचान पत्र देख वह ठिठका और उसने सभी पहचान पत्र उठा लिए। उसने बताया कि सभी पहचान पत्र उसके गांव के ही थे। गांव लाकर सभी लोगों को उनके पहचान पत्र दे दिए। गांव के लोगों में नितिन अरोड़ा, राहुल, संजीव, वीरेंद्र, जयपाल, कृष्णपाल, अरुण आदि ने छात्र की सराहना करते हुए कहा, वे तो काफी समय से इनकी प्रतिक्षा कर रहे थे, लेकिन सौभाग्य से उनको मिल गए। यदि गांव का छात्र न होता तो शायद उनको पहचान पत्रों से वंचित रहना पड़ता।
इन्होंने कहा..
मेरी जानकारी में ऐसा नहीं आया, इसकी जांच कराकर संबंधित कर्मचारी के खिलाफ कार्रवाई होगी।
-उमेशचंद मिश्र, एसडीएम बागपत।