ProUI

KOLKATA: If conservationists have their way, the state's much-touted tourism project in Gajoldoba, 25kms from Siliguri, may face a green hurdle.

The proposed project site of over 200 acres is surrounded by the forests of Apalchand on east and Baikunthapur on west, which were to be notified as protected areas in 1995 when a clearance was granted to the lower Teesta Barrage project.

With the notification yet to be made, the members of the National Board of Wildlife have already pressured the state on this last March while giving a survey nod to the Sevoke-Rangpo rail link that will cut through another key protected area in North Bengal - the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary.Now, the members of the state wildlife advisory board have asked the chief wildlife warden to include the issue on the agenda of their next board meeting, likely in November.If the forests get a conservation reserve or protected area status, the state may have to knock on the Centre's Union environment ministry's doors for the tourism hub project, which is so far sailing smooth.

National Board of Wildlife member M D Madhusudan said: "This place in the lower Teesta region is a key elephant corridor used by the jumbos for movements between the eastern and western banks of the river. The state should be careful while planning any project here."

According to state wildlife advisory board member Animesh Bose, a conservation reserve tag for the forests was proposed before, but the issue never featured on the agendas of any state wildlife board meeting. "Since the site also houses a big waterbody, which is used by several migratory birds every year, we want some protection in the area. It's not that we are against development activities, but some restriction is needed," he said.

Citing the example of the Alipore Zoo waterbody, which used to attract migratory birds till a big hotel project came up near it, another member of state wildlife advisory board Biswajit Roy Chowdhury said the state must take a cautious approach while clearing any project in Gajoldoba.

The waterbody at Gajoldoba witnesses arrival of over 150 species of migratory and resident birds every winter, including species like the long-tailed duck, smew, common golden eye, black-necked grebe and bar-headed goose. On an average 15,000 birds use this waterbody every winter.

Madhusudan also said: the Bengal government had promised to notify the lower region of Teesta river basin as a sanctuary earlier. "Since it's using a key forest patch for the Rangpo rail link now, it should first notify the forests of Baikunthapur and Apalchand as protected areas," he said, adding that "It's needed to be seen whether the site falls within a 10-km radius of Mahananda." Tourism minister Krishnendu Chowdhury made it clear the project would not come up near the forest. Though bids are still open, the state is not satisfied with the bidders who have shown interest in the project so far. "Big players are now lying low due to the statehood agitation in the Hills," he said.

The Rs 2000-crore project will house high-end lake resort, three and four-star resorts, budget hotels, spa, picnic park, golf course and cultural zone. With an eye to secure a place in the top-five travel destinations in India, the Bengal government has also added Sunderbans' Jharkhali as a destination to its tourism plans. The two projects will attract investments up to Rs 5,000 crore.

ALLAHABAD: The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) examination was conducted successfully at numerous centres in the city on Sunday. About 36.3% candidates appeared in the examination which was conducted at Allahabad and Chandigarh.

There was heavy crowding of the candidates at Allahabad railway junction as they set out to return to their native places after appearing in the examination.

Talking to TOI, RRB chairman Sanjeev Mathur said about 17,940 candidates appeared in the first meeting of the examination in which 46,656 candidates were expected to participate. In the second meeting, about 17,166 candidates appeared in the examination out of the 46,656 candidates. Meanwhile, 11,224 candidates appeared at Chandigarh out of the total 35,136 candidates.

The written examination is being conducted for selecting candidates on the vacant posts of commercial clerk, accounts clerk, ticket examiner, junior clerk and train clerk.

There was heavy rush at the numerous examination centres right from the morning. Some of the candidates faced problems in going to centres which are located in the far-flung areas.

This examination is being conducted in three phases. The second phase and third phase of the examination will be conducted on September 22 and October 6.

Railway administration has made arrangements for ferrying the candidates. In this connection, two extra general coaches were attached to train number 12403/12404 Allahabad-Mathura Express and train number 11107/11108 Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express.

Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Hon’ble Minister for Railways flagged off a new          Train No. 16572 Bidar-Yesvantpur Express (Tri-weekly) at a function held at Bidar Railway Station today ie.,  1st September, 2013. Dr. N. Dharam Singh, Hon’ble Ex. Chief Minister of Karnataka & Member of Parliament; Smt. Umashree, Hon’ble Minister for Women and Child Development, Kannada and Cultural Department and District Incharge Minster and a host of other ministers, MLAs, MLCs, other public representatives, dignitaries and senior Railway officials were present o­n the occasion.

Addressing a huge gathering o­n the occasion, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Hon’ble Minister for Railways stated that this new train is a very essential link between north Karnataka region and capital city of Karnataka. It was introduced by according top priority as it would provide a comfortable travelling facility for the people of north Karnataka towards Bangalore. He said, Indian Railways is committed to develop Railway infrastructure across various regions of the country to meet public demands. He also said that the sanctioned Railway projects in Karnataka will be given due priority for their early completion, with the active co-operation / cost sharing from the Government of Karnataka, including Bidar-Gulbarga new railway line project.

Shri Dharam Singh in his address said that Shri Mallikarjun Kharge’s initiative to provide much awaited overnight train service to Bangalore is highly appreciative. He also said that it was a long cherished dream of Bidar region, as at present there is no convenient train to Bangalore. Earlier Shri A.K. Mital, General Manager, South Central Railway welcomed the gathering and detailed o­n developmental works taken up by SCR. Shri S.K.Mishra, Divisional Railway Manager, Secunderabad Division proposed vote of thanks.



On its regular run, Train No.16572 Bidar-Yesvantpur Tri-weekly Express will depart Bidar at 18:25 hrs o­n  Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and arrive Yesvanatpur  at 07:40 hrs o­n the next day. In the return direction, Train No. 16571 Yesvantpur-Bidar Tri-weekly Express will depart at Yesvantur at 19:15 hrs  o­n Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and arrive Bidar at 09:30 hrs o­n the next day.


The composition of the train : o­ne AC III tier; o­ne AC II tier; o­ne AC First cum III tier; five General Second Class;  six  Sleeper Class and two Second Class Luggage cum Brake Van coaches, totaling to 16 Coaches. Enroute, this  train will stop at Zaheerabad, Vikarabad, Seram, Malkhaid Road, Chittapur, Nalwar, Yadgir, Narayanpet Road, Raichur, Mantralayam Road, Guntakal, Dharmavarm, Hindupur, Gauribidanur and Yelahanka stations.

Railways will operate an Onam special train between Nagercoil and Mangalore Junction. A press release said here on Saturday that the train no. 06304 Nagercoil-Mangalore Junction special will leave Nagercoil at 8.35 pm on September 11 and 18, and reach Mangalore Junction at11.20 am the next day.In the return direction, the train no. 06303 Mangalore Junction-Nagercoil special will leave Mangalore Junction at 2.40 pm on September 12 and 19, and reach Nagercoil at 4.15 am the next day. The composition of the trains will be one AC 2-tier, three AC 3-tier, eight sleeper class, four general second class and two luggage-cum-brake van coaches.

Ahead of the 2014 polls, the UPA government is moving ahead with another big-ticket rail project: A rail coach factory at Pallakad in Kerala.

“The request for qualification (RFQ) for the R600-crore project will shortly be invited. We also expect to begin the process of shortlisting the bidders within this fiscal,” Railway Board chairman (CRB) Arunendra Kumar told HT.

The Pallakad factory has long been mired in political controversies despite the Kerala government — nearly four years ago — having offered land free of cost to set up the factory.

“All the issues have been sorted. An inter-ministerial group comprising officers of the ministries of finance, law and railways – as well as the planning commission – approved the draft RFQ for the project earlier this week,” Kumar said.

The factory, to be set up in three years, will have a capacity to manufacture 400 state-of-the-art aluminium coaches annually. It is planned as a joint venture with the railways contributing 26% of the equity.

The LDF government led by VS Achutanandan had acquired 430 acres for the project in 2009, which it had offered to the railways — provided the facility was built as a public fund and not as a PPP project.

As the railways plans to build the factory under the PPP mode, it has now purchased 239 acres from the Kerala government. “The state government had initially offered 430 acres free of charge,” Pallakad MP MB Rajesh said.

LUCKNOW: Railways' ticket drive Operation Chakravyuh, in the last two days, caught women, police officers, leaders of famers' organisations, army personnel, students and professionals travelling ticketless. A student had boarded a train from Kanpur without ticket (WT) and was caught at Lucknow station. Though she tried evading the fine on the grounds of being a woman, she was not let off."The idea is to drive home the message that travelling without ticket is an offence," said senior divisional commissioner, Lucknow, Northern Railway, Ashwini Srivastava. Students with no money to pay the fine, were penalised in group to pay up collectively. The 36-hour long drive earned revenue of Rs 4.5 lakh.Till late Sunday evening, 1,570 passengers were caught without ticket and Rs 4,81,409 was recovered from them by way of penalty. Passengers who did not have money to pay the penalty (minimum penalty for ticketless travel is Rs 250) were charged for offences like littering and smoking that have provision for a smaller fine.

Lucknow division of Northern Railway conducted 'operation chakravyuh' to discourage ticketless travelling. "Ever since the rail fare increased, we had been catching at least 60 persons every day, on an average, without ticket at nearby stations," said the Sr DCM. Despite railways conducting regular drives, number of defaulters has not reduced.

"We wrote to Delhi after we noticed the trend and sought additional staff to conduct a massive drive," said the official. The station premises were checked at every entry/exit point to not let anybody travel without ticket escape fine. The officials said they caught a cop who was travelling with a family without ticket. He was bailed out by his friend at the station.

There were women who fought with the staff to evade fine and political representatives who threatened the staff with dire consequences when checked. The representatives of a farmers' organisation who had come to sit on a 'dharna' at the Vidhan Bhawan were caught without ticket. Others from the organization who dropped in to help them were charged too for entering the station without a platform ticket.

"We plan to launch surprise follow-up checking drives after this," said the official.

Apart from ticketless travellers, about 1,834 people were charged for littering and other railway offences and Rs 5,79,654 was recovered.

KOLKATA: If conservationists have their way, the state's much-touted tourism project in Gajoldoba, 25kms from Siliguri, may face a green hurdle.

The proposed project site of over 200 acres is surrounded by the forests of Apalchand on east and Baikunthapur on west, which were to be notified as protected areas in 1995 when a clearance was granted to the lower Teesta Barrage project.

With the notification yet to be made, the members of the National Board of Wildlife have already pressured the state on this last March while giving a survey nod to the Sevoke-Rangpo rail link that will cut through another key protected area in North Bengal - the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary.Now, the members of the state wildlife advisory board have asked the chief wildlife warden to include the issue on the agenda of their next board meeting, likely in November.If the forests get a conservation reserve or protected area status, the state may have to knock on the Centre's Union environment ministry's doors for the tourism hub project, which is so far sailing smooth.

National Board of Wildlife member M D Madhusudan said: "This place in the lower Teesta region is a key elephant corridor used by the jumbos for movements between the eastern and western banks of the river. The state should be careful while planning any project here."

According to state wildlife advisory board member Animesh Bose, a conservation reserve tag for the forests was proposed before, but the issue never featured on the agendas of any state wildlife board meeting. "Since the site also houses a big waterbody, which is used by several migratory birds every year, we want some protection in the area. It's not that we are against development activities, but some restriction is needed," he said.

Citing the example of the Alipore Zoo waterbody, which used to attract migratory birds till a big hotel project came up near it, another member of state wildlife advisory board Biswajit Roy Chowdhury said the state must take a cautious approach while clearing any project in Gajoldoba.

The waterbody at Gajoldoba witnesses arrival of over 150 species of migratory and resident birds every winter, including species like the long-tailed duck, smew, common golden eye, black-necked grebe and bar-headed goose. On an average 15,000 birds use this waterbody every winter.

Madhusudan also said: the Bengal government had promised to notify the lower region of Teesta river basin as a sanctuary earlier. "Since it's using a key forest patch for the Rangpo rail link now, it should first notify the forests of Baikunthapur and Apalchand as protected areas," he said, adding that "It's needed to be seen whether the site falls within a 10-km radius of Mahananda." Tourism minister Krishnendu Chowdhury made it clear the project would not come up near the forest. Though bids are still open, the state is not satisfied with the bidders who have shown interest in the project so far. "Big players are now lying low due to the statehood agitation in the Hills," he said.

The Rs 2000-crore project will house high-end lake resort, three and four-star resorts, budget hotels, spa, picnic park, golf course and cultural zone. With an eye to secure a place in the top-five travel destinations in India, the Bengal government has also added Sunderbans' Jharkhali as a destination to its tourism plans. The two projects will attract investments up to Rs 5,000 crore.

ALLAHABAD: The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) examination was conducted successfully at numerous centres in the city on Sunday. About 36.3% candidates appeared in the examination which was conducted at Allahabad and Chandigarh.

There was heavy crowding of the candidates at Allahabad railway junction as they set out to return to their native places after appearing in the examination.

Talking to TOI, RRB chairman Sanjeev Mathur said about 17,940 candidates appeared in the first meeting of the examination in which 46,656 candidates were expected to participate. In the second meeting, about 17,166 candidates appeared in the examination out of the 46,656 candidates. Meanwhile, 11,224 candidates appeared at Chandigarh out of the total 35,136 candidates.

The written examination is being conducted for selecting candidates on the vacant posts of commercial clerk, accounts clerk, ticket examiner, junior clerk and train clerk.

There was heavy rush at the numerous examination centres right from the morning. Some of the candidates faced problems in going to centres which are located in the far-flung areas.

This examination is being conducted in three phases. The second phase and third phase of the examination will be conducted on September 22 and October 6.

Railway administration has made arrangements for ferrying the candidates. In this connection, two extra general coaches were attached to train number 12403/12404 Allahabad-Mathura Express and train number 11107/11108 Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express.

Reduction in export duty on iron ore to 20 per cent from the present 30 per cent may not be beneficial to exporters, unless the railway tariff charged on iron ore meant for exports is withdrawn or made on par with domestic tariff rate.Export duty reduction would hardly benefit them to the extent of Rs 700-900 per tonne, while any reduction in the railway freight could ease the flow of iron ore and allow transportation of higher volumes, according to a survey of miners. It would also reduce the issues related to road transportation.As it is, increasing diesel prices as a result of depreciating rupee against the dollar has made things difficult for the miners, when they move the ore through lorries.According to a survey conducted by Delhi-based mining and metal information website, OreTeam, reducing export duty by 50 per cent to even 15 per cent for iron ore fines from the present 30 per cent would only save the exporters a mere Rs 700-900 per tonne.OreTeam conducted the survey to analyse if the mining and trading lobby was happy with a reduction in export duty or would be happier with a reduction in the railway freight meant for exports. Ultimately, reducing the railway freight will help the production of iron ore to restart quicker and in bigger proportions as more material would be able to move from the mine heads as compared to the same cargoes being transported through trucks.

"The hiking diesel costs can also be mitigated to an extent if railway freight for exports is brought to equilibrium with the domestic freight rates. In this manner a complete solution can be framed for the iron ore and steel industries in one go. Also, discounting railway freight for exports in line with the domestic freight rates, would help the miners and traders save nearly Rs 1,200-1,500 per tonne, almost Rs 500 per tonne more than a reduction on the duty front," OreTeam said.

Reducing export duty may only help some miners, as majority of miners and traders in India will still be using trucks instead of rakes for moving their iron ore, which would cost them a heavier burden. Also, another factor, which the government has to investigate, is that cutting down the export duty would mean the government is cutting down its own revenues and allowing the profits to grow on the miners' front. This wouldn't allow the government or the opposing lobbies to stay content for a longer time.

Many miners in the recent past had issues related to truck or road transportation in the East and were forced to lighten their cargoes as major jams were visible near Paradip and Vizag ports. Similarly, the truckers were commanding the miners with hiked rentals on the back of delays in transportation, hiked fuel costs and heavy vigilance checks on major highways. Many miners were unhappy with the delays in road transportation and had even reached the top authorities of the state to intervene. Reducing railway freight might help such miners and traders and ease such issues, OreTeam said.

OreTeam conducted a survey, which received nearly 56 responses over the last week and on the basis of the responses the respondents also feel that reducing railway freight will have more impact than reducing the export duty.

About 42 miners and 16 traders from across the country responded to the survey and nearly all 16 traders said that reducing railway freight rates will be more beneficial to the industry.

But of the 42 miners who responded, majority (69 Per cent) had the same opinion of railway freight reduction giving them better margins than export duty cut. On the trading front, the support came from nearly 86 per cent of the total 14 respondents.

OreTeam survey did not include any respondents from Karnataka but had few from Goa as iron ore exports from Goa is the lifeline of the state and soon Goa would be back in business (if SC decision is in favour of the industry).

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.