ProUI

Crossing the Salem railway line at the City’s Kaggadasapura level-crossing is too Herculean a task, an adventure trapped deep in chaotic traffic.But as the road-users cry for an overbridge here, a bridge designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) less than a kilometer away stands unfinished for the fourth yearAwaiting clearance from the Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRS), the DRDO bridge, when completed, will clearly be out of range for the general public. And this could precisely be the reason why it is delayed. The mounting traffic woes at the poorly located Kaggadasapura level-crossing had reportedly forced political interests to look at the DRDO bridge as a temporary reprieve. But DRDO, it is learnt, would have none of that.Without the CRS nod, the Railways cannot link the two stretches of the bridge although the project is reportedly financed fully by the DRDO. The Defence organisation had sought to link its Phase 1 campus with the Phase 2 Township through the bridge. The 2nd Phase houses the DRDO maintenance offices, office of the Controller of Defence Accounts, a guesthouse, commercial complex and training units besides the director’s bungalow and other residential quarters.DRDO’s fear is that allowing public vehicles on the bridge would trigger unprecedented traffic and noise pollution inside its relatively quiet and secure campus.

“Public vehicles were allowed to pass through the Phase 1 DRDO Township, honouring an agreement signed 30 years ago. But today it has become such a big nuisance that the gates are shut for outside traffic between 8 pm and 7 am,” a top Defence official told Deccan Herald.

The unfinished bridge work has increased the pressure on the Kaggadasapura level-crossing manifold. A big chunk of the vehicles that pass through the crossing originate from the Phase-2 quarters. School students from the Township are particularly hit, as the vehicles ferrying them invariably get stuck at the railway gate for hours.

A proposal to build a separate two-lane bridge in the vicinity of the level-crossing is stuck in the drawing room. South Western Railways (SWR) officials said the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is yet to submit the alignment of the approach roads. Only if this design is ready can the Railways plan the location and architecture of the bridge.

Chief Administrative Officer, Construction, SWR, Adesh Sharma said he was unaware of the DRDO bridge or its status. But he was sure that the Railways could not go ahead with a Rail Over Bridge (ROB) at Kaggadasapura unless BBMP acquired the land for the approach roads.

The followers of Asaram Bapu forcibly stopped the Suryanagri and Shatabdi Express trains near Uttaran station in Surat on Monday evening, protesting his arrest in a sexual assault case. The police rushed to the spot and later, the trains continued their onward journey.

The self-styled godman's followers gathered at Manisha railway culvert and rolled out a red-coloured sheet on the railway tracks to stop trains. They carried banners and posters of Asaram and raised slogans in his favour. The Suryanagari train to Ahmedabad was the first one to be stopped and even after the driver's repeated requests, Asaram's supporters did not leave the tracks. The Shatabdi Express, on its way to Mumbai, was then seen coming on the other track and the supporters tried to stop it too. Both the trains halted for half-an-hour. The drivers called Surat GRP and RPF police, and the staff from Amroli police station was sent to the spot. Seeing policemen, the protesters fled the spot. Surat Railway GRP and RPF also rushed to location with reinforcement.

Surat Railway GRP PI P S Vadvi said, "Hundreds of supporters of Asaram stopped Suryanagri and Shatabdi trains near Uttaran railway station. When we reached, they fled, leaving banners on the tracks. We have not made any arrest."

BANGALORE: The Karnataka government is drawing up a Rs 2,100 crore project with loan assistance from Asian Development Bank, to develop and upgrade eight city clusters around Bangalore to woo investment and ease the load on the State capital.The city clusters proposed to be developed are Nelamangala, Magadi, Anekal, Bidadi, Dabaspet, Harohalli, Devanahalli and Hoskote, Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake told reporters here.Officials said the objective is to attract investment in those clusters by developing and upgrading them and "dispersing Bangalore investment" into these areas.Meanwhile, they said detailed project report on Phase-I of the Rs 8,759-crore suburban rail system for Bangalore comprising five corridors, including from the city to Tumkur, Ramanagara and Bangarpet, would be completed "very soon".Officials said a Special Purpose Vehicle -- Bangalore Suburban Rail Corporation -- would be set up for implementing the project which is expected to ease congestion in the city.

Sorake said a Cabinet note has been prepared to upgrade city municipal councils of Tumkur, Shimoga and Bijapura to city corporations.

The Minister said during the transition phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM), 61 projects with estimated cost of Rs 5,265.22 crore have been forwarded for approval to the Union Ministry of Urban Development, adding, Rs 168 crore of them had already been approved.

"Seventeen water supply projects with estimated cost of Rs 711.92 crore have been submitted to the Central government under UIDSSMT (Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns)", Sorake said.

He said a Rs 1,760 crore project has been prepared to provide 24X7 water supply to the entire corporation area of Belgaum, Gulbarga and Hubli-Dharwad cities on PPP basis with World Bank assistance.

Sorake also said a project is under preparation for state-level heritage-based urban development programme for Karnataka with World Bank assistance.

He said a master plan would be prepared in phases to project requirements of cities of Karnataka in the year 2040.

Workshops would be conducted for corporators of at the city and state-levels, Sorake said, adding, ward committees and citizen foras would be set up to create awareness among the people on funding in their areas and to monitor quality of works undertaken there.

The followers of Asaram Bapu forcibly stopped the Suryanagri and Shatabdi Express trains near Uttaran station in Surat on Monday evening, protesting his arrest in a sexual assault case. The police rushed to the spot and later, the trains continued their onward journey.

The self-styled godman's followers gathered at Manisha railway culvert and rolled out a red-coloured sheet on the railway tracks to stop trains. They carried banners and posters of Asaram and raised slogans in his favour. The Suryanagari train to Ahmedabad was the first one to be stopped and even after the driver's repeated requests, Asaram's supporters did not leave the tracks. The Shatabdi Express, on its way to Mumbai, was then seen coming on the other track and the supporters tried to stop it too. Both the trains halted for half-an-hour. The drivers called Surat GRP and RPF police, and the staff from Amroli police station was sent to the spot. Seeing policemen, the protesters fled the spot. Surat Railway GRP and RPF also rushed to location with reinforcement.

Surat Railway GRP PI P S Vadvi said, "Hundreds of supporters of Asaram stopped Suryanagri and Shatabdi trains near Uttaran railway station. When we reached, they fled, leaving banners on the tracks. We have not made any arrest."

Traffic was hit for around half an hour near the railway level crossing on Korrukkupet – Manali High Road on Monday after a large number of residents and traders protested frequent closure of the level crossing, especially during rush hours. Residents complained office-goers and school children were unable to cross the spot during morning and evening hours as the crossing remains closed to allow goods trains. A police team arrested the protestors and released them later in the day.

बिहार के मधेपुरा जिले में इलेक्ट्रिक लोको फैक्ट्री स्थापित करने के लिए रेल मंत्रालय द्वारा वित्तीय बोली में चुनी गई छह कंपनियों में से दो चीन की हैं। इसके अलावा दो अमेरिकी मूल व दो जर्मन मूल की भारतीय कंपनियां शामिल हैं। सोमवार को रिक्वेस्ट फॉर क्वालिफिकेशन [आरएफक्यू] बोली की आखिरी तारीख थी।
चीन की दो कंपनियों में सीएनआर कॉरपोरेशन व सीएसआर कॉरपोरेशन के नाम शामिल हैं। जबकि अमेरिकी मूल की दो भारतीय कंपनियों- जीई ग्लोबल सोर्सिग इंडिया व बंबार्डियर इंडिया है। इसके अलावा जर्मन मूल की दो भारतीय कंपनियों- एल्स्टाम इंडिया व सिमेंस लिमिटेड को भी तकनीकी तौर पर पात्र पाया गया। अब इन कंपनियों को वित्तीय बोली लगाने का मौका मिलेगा। सबसे कम बोली लगाने वाली कंपनी को मधेपुरा में इलेक्ट्रिक रेल इंजन फैक्ट्री लगाने का अवसर दिया जाएगा। इसके अलावा मढ़ौरा में डीजल लोको फैक्ट्री भी लगाई जाएगी, जिसकी घोषणा 2008 में तत्कालीन रेलमंत्री लालू प्रसाद यादव ने की थी।
मधेपुरा में 1293 करोड़ रुपये की लागत से प्रत्येक लोको में 12 हजार हॉर्सपावर की क्षमता वाले 800 लोको हर साल बनाने का कारखाना लगाया जाना है। इसके अलावा मढ़ौरा फैक्ट्री पर 2025 करोड़ की लागत आने का अनुमान है। इसमें हर साल 4500 हॉर्सपावर व 6000 हॉर्सपावर वाले 1000 डीजल रेल इंजन बनाने का लक्ष्य है। गौरतलब है कि रेलवे के पास फिलहाल दो लोको फैक्ट्रियां हैं। वाराणसी में डीजल लोकोमोटिव व‌र्क्स [डीएलडब्ल्यू] व चितरंजन में इलेक्ट्रिक लोकोमोटिव व‌र्क्स [सीएलडब्ल्यू]।

Mumbai: A day after Asaram was arrested by Jodhpur police for allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old girl on the pretext of exorcism, his followers went berserk. Mumbai witnessed demonstrations and severe protests by Asaram’s followers demanding his release. Most of his followers in Mumbai stalled traffic on various roads and occupied major junctions demanding his release.   Traffic came to a standstill and State Reserve Police along with the local police had to be pressed to action. Traffic at various places was diverted to ease tension.    Railway tracks were blocked and trains had to be halted at various railway stations. Protesting against the self-styled godman’s arrest, his followers staged a ‘rail roko’ andolan leaving travel plans of various commuters affected. Railway services were disrupted and commuters left stranded for over an hour due to people sitting on tracks and blocking the passage of trains.    Though some trains had to be cancelled, the protest did not help at all. Asaram was subsequently sent to 14-day judicial custody on Monday.

KOLKATA: A youth dragged a woman to the RPF personnel at Dum Dum Metro station on Monday evening complaining of robbery, following which the woman accused him of molestation.Both of them have been handed over to the police.RPF personnel manning the Dum Dum Metro station at Dumdum were taken aback seeing a youth dragging a woman to them.Around 8pm, the man told the RPF men that the woman had slapped him after picking his pocket. The woman told them that he molested her.Supporters of both the man and the woman arrived at the station and started a shouting match. After an hour of trying to resolve the issue, the RPF alerted the Sinthee police station and handed the duo over to them.m cops. finally called in a police. They were handed over to the Sinthi police station around 9 pm.Till reports came in last both the man and the woman lodged complaint against each other at the police station.The train from Belgachia end had just chugged in around 8 pm when the youth dragged the woman to the RPF personnel. In no time two groups - accomplices of the youth and the woman's associates - arrived in the scene. While the man-gang vouched for the youth's version, the all women brigade pitched in for the woman. The two kept arguing trying to impress upon the RPF personnel that they were right.

A Metro Rail team came across a storm water drain from the Nizam era, at a depth of 10-feet, while laying the foundation for piers

Metro Rail construction teams are by now used to hitting huge hard rocks, utility pipelines and cables while laying foundations for piers and pillars.However, they were in for a surprise few days ago when while digging on the Public Gardens – Telugu University line and the M.J. Market stretch, they encountered a decades-old Nizam era storm water drain. The drain, which was 10-feet deep, was not detected during the soil testing phase and came to the fore only when the excavation was taken deep for laying the foundation of the Metro Rail piers.The storm water drain was functional and water was gushing through it at considerable velocity towards Chaderghat and Musi River. Officials, however, admitted that it was difficult to ascertain the origin of the drain.“It’s a beautiful construction. Generally, we do not expect any pipeline at such depths. No one knew about it,” said Hyderabad Metro Rail managing director N.V.S. Reddy.He pointed out that neither the GHMC nor the Water Board (HMWSSB) had any maps or drawings to show the existence of such a drain. The water might be flowing in from near the tracks adjacent to the Nampally railway station, which gets flooded during heavy rain, Mr. Reddy reckons.

The drain was also built in such a manner that the water flow was contained within the series of curves and could have been connected to underground storm drains with links to Lakdikapul and Masab Tank, officials said.

The challenge for the engineers of HMR and the concessionaire L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) would be to now build piers foundations in such a manner that they either circumvent the storm water drains altogether, by building an parallel pipeline of three metre-diameter or more.

KOLKATA: A youth dragged a woman to the RPF personnel at Dum Dum Metro station on Monday evening complaining of robbery, following which the woman accused him of molestation.Both of them have been handed over to the police.RPF personnel manning the Dum Dum Metro station at Dumdum were taken aback seeing a youth dragging a woman to them.Around 8pm, the man told the RPF men that the woman had slapped him after picking his pocket. The woman told them that he molested her.Supporters of both the man and the woman arrived at the station and started a shouting match. After an hour of trying to resolve the issue, the RPF alerted the Sinthee police station and handed the duo over to them.m cops. finally called in a police. They were handed over to the Sinthi police station around 9 pm.Till reports came in last both the man and the woman lodged complaint against each other at the police station.The train from Belgachia end had just chugged in around 8 pm when the youth dragged the woman to the RPF personnel. In no time two groups - accomplices of the youth and the woman's associates - arrived in the scene. While the man-gang vouched for the youth's version, the all women brigade pitched in for the woman. The two kept arguing trying to impress upon the RPF personnel that they were right.