ProUI

KOLKATA: A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has brought to light the unhygienic conditions that prevail at major stations like Howrah and Sealdah as well as on trains. The report has also exposed how unclean linen is supplied to upper-class passengers.Eastern Railway (ER) is among the four zones with the maximum number of stations without cement-concrete (CC) aprons, a pre-requisite for mechanized cleaning. Only between 60 and 71% of stations in these zones have the facility."Provision for washable aprons was found inadequate even in major stations of ER such as Howrah, Naihati, Malda, Bandel, Burdwan and Sealdah. The CAG also noted improper sanitation due to night soil deposit on damaged aprons or absence of washable aprons at the Naihati, Bandel, Burdwan and Asansol stations under ER. Thus the railway administration was not able to effectively implement the Railway Board's guidelines of December, 2006, for mechanized cleaning of all major stations," the CAG report states.

The CAG audit has also noted several shortcomings in the Clean Train Stations (CTS) scheme. "Audit observed an average shortfall of about 20% in the number of trains actually cleaned under CTS. The trains cleaned under this scheme were only partially attended," the report said. Sleeper class coaches mostly remained unattended. During joint inspection of trains attended through the CTS project, audit observed that vestibules between coaches were littered with untreated food, used plastic plates, tea cups and other items. These are then thrown out on to the tracks. Toilets in most of the trains inspected were either chocked or dirty," the report states.

According to the CAG, Indian Railways has only partially achieved the objective of maintaining cleanliness in trains mainly due to poor planning and inadequate monitoring at the zonal level. The report has also found several problems with the On Board Housekeeping System (OBHS) on mail/express trains. Under this system, housekeeping staff from private agencies are to travel in passenger coaches and clean toilets, aisles, doorways and compartments. The audit has revealed that of the 554 pairs of trains identified under this scheme, tenders were finalized only for 350 pairs. Based on average Passenger Satisfaction Index, Rs 53 lakh was recovered by South Eastern Railway (SER) from private contractors responsible for OBHS at the Santragachi and Tatanagar stations. The report also has a photograph of a water-logged, dirty, washbasin on the Howrah-Barbil Jan Shatabdi Express which is under OBHS. "Audit conducted in 88 trains revealed several deficiencies. There is lack of adequate publicity through public address system in the station before the start of the journey about the presence of the executive housekeeper for cleaning and sanitation work on the running train. The terms and conditions of OBHS agreement provides for disposal of garbage at notified stations en-route. It was observed that staff didn't turn up for collection of garbage at the notified stations. Sleeper class coaches were mostly left unattended. There is lack of adequate supervision by railway officials in respect of activities of staff involved in OBHS," it has been stated in the report.

The CAG audit has also revealed that unclean linen is supplied to passengers. While ER imposed a penalty of Rs 37.10 lakh on private contractors for not adhering to quality norms, SER charged Rs 12.34 lakh. It was revealed during the audit that 'linen supplied is dirty, torn/tattered and has outlived its prescribed life.' It has been noted that sufficient numbers of automated mechanized laundries have not been set up by the railway zones, resulting in over-dependence on private agencies.

Southern Railway General Manager Rakesh Misra on Tuesday directed the divisional railway officials to expedite the process of converting unmanned level crossings in Tiruchi division into manned or limited use subways. Mr. Misra gave the instruction at a review meeting with the railway officers of the division and from the Construction Organisation here.Reviewing the earnings of Tiruchi Division, Mr. Misra said there was a need to improve the earnings from the passenger transportation segment, adding that effective ticket checking could bring the desired result. He also directed the officials with regard to effective crowd management during the festival season by deploying adequate security personnel and volunteers and use of closed circuit television cameras in stations.

Divisional Railway Manager Manjula Rangarajan, Chief Administrative Officer – Construction S. Vijayakumaran and senior officers from various railway departments took part in the meeting held at the Control office meeting room, a Southern Railway press release here said.

Thanjavur: New Thanjavur-Chennai Express will be introduced simultaneously with the termination of Rockfort Express in Tiruchi, Mr. Rakesh Misra, told presspersons in Thanjavur on Tuesday. The people of Thanjavur and Kumbakonam need not have any apprehension over loosing Rockfort Express.

“The new express train announced in the budget for which timetable has been announced will be introduced simultaneously with the termination of Rockfort in Tiruchi,” he said.

अमरावती, बडनेरासह सहा रेल्वेस्थानके समस्यांनी त्रस्त

अमरावती - पादचारी पूल, उद्‌घोषणा, फूडप्लाझा, सायबर कॅफे आणि सायकल स्टॅण्ड अशा अनंत समस्या सोडविण्यात "भुसावळ झोन'ला अंतराच्या मोठ्या मर्यादा पडतात. अमरावती, बडनेरा आणि नरखेड मार्गावरील चार स्थानके तातडीने मध्य रेल्वेच्या नागपूर विभागाला जोडली तर प्रशासकीय नियंत्रण आणि समन्वय सहज शक्‍य होऊन लाखो प्रवाशांची नाहक त्रासातून सुटका होईल.

भुसावळ विभाग अमरावतीपासून 229 किलोमीटर दूर आहे. त्या तुलनेत नागपूर विभाग 150 किलोमीटर अंतरावर आहे. अमरावती, बडनेरा आणि नवीन अमरावती रेल्वेस्थानके नाना प्रश्‍नांनी वेढलेली आहेत. एवढेच काय, तर चांदूरबाजार ते भुसावळ हे अंतर तब्बल 271 किलोमीटर एवढे पडते. भुसावळ विभागात 1028.36 किलोमीटर लांबीचा लोहमार्ग आहे. त्यामुळे भुसावळ विभागावर प्रशासकीय समन्वय राखण्यात मोठ्या अडचणी येतात. त्यामुळे भुसावळ विभागातील सहा रेल्वेस्थानके कमाल 150 किलोमीटर अंतरावरील नागपूर विभागाला जोडली तर सर्वच प्रश्‍न प्रशासकीय नियंत्रणामुळे सुटू शकतात. भुसावळ विभागात अंदाजे 272 स्थानकांचा, तर नागपूर विभागात फक्त 91 स्थानकांचा समावेश आहे. त्यामुळे भुसावळमधील सहा स्थानकांचा समावेश नागपूर विभागात करणे सोयीचेच ठरणार आहे.

मुंबई-हावडा रेल्वे मार्गावरील बडनेरा हे मध्य रेल्वेतील अत्यंत महत्त्वाचे स्थानक आहे. त्यानंतर मॉडेल स्थानकाच्या रूपाने अमरावती रेल्वेच्या नकाशावर आले. अमरावतीला मॉडेल स्थानकाचा दर्जा मिळाला. सात नव्या रेल्वेगाड्यादेखील सुरू झाल्या. परंतु, मॉडेल स्थानकावर घोषित केलेल्या सोयी, सुविधा उपलब्ध झाल्या नाहीत. हीच परिस्थिती बडनेरा स्थानकाची आहे. विशेष म्हणजे, 133 किलोमीटर लांबीचा अमरावती-नरखेड रेल्वेमार्ग तयार करण्यात आला. या मार्गावरील चांदूरबाजारपर्यंत मध्यरेल्वेच्या भुसावळ विभागाची हद्द असून, तेथून पुढे नरखेडपर्यंत नागपूर विभागाची हद्द आहे.
मॉडेल स्थानकातून नरखेड मार्गे जाणाऱ्या अनेक गाड्या प्रस्तावित आहेत. परंतु, अमरावती-नवी अमरावतीला जोडणाऱ्या "कॉर्ड लाइन'चादेखील अद्याप पत्ता नसल्याने बडनेरा-नागपूर मार्गावर काही अघटित घडल्यास पर्यायी मार्ग म्हणून अमरावती-नरखेडचा वापर केला जातो.

दबाव हवा
कुठले रेल्वेस्थानक कोणत्या विभागात असावे, याचा निर्णय "रेल्वे बोर्ड' घेते. त्यामुळे नेत्यांनी दबाव आणल्यास नागपूर विभागात समावेश करणे सहज शक्‍य आहे.

सहाही स्थानके नागपूर विभागात समाविष्ट करावी, ही रास्त मागणी आहे. त्यासाठी आम्ही पाठपुरावा करू.
- देवेंद्र फडणवीस, आमदार आणि प्रदेशाध्यक्ष, भाजप

या आहेत समस्या...

* अमरावती (मॉडेल) : चार फलाट-एकच अंडरपाथ वे, फुट ओव्हरब्रिज, उद्‌घोषणा यंत्रणा, दुकाने, सायकल स्टॅंड, वाहन चोऱ्यांवर अंकुश, पुरेसे मनुष्यबळ, राजापेठ उड्डाणपूल, वॉशिंग-सायडिंग दिवास्वप्नच

* बडनेरा : कायम अस्वच्छता, निसरडा फुट ओव्हरब्रिज, मनुष्यबळाची कमतरता, ठोस नियंत्रणाचा अभाव

* नवीन अमरावती (नरखेड मार्ग) : प्रस्तावित गाड्या सुरू नाही, आरक्षण सुविधा नाही, खानपान व्यवस्था

BJP leader and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda demanded adequate compensation to the families of the devotees mowed down by a train in Khagaria district of Bihar, on Monday.“The government should give Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who died in the tragedy and Rs five lakh to the injured and ensuring their free treatment,” Mr. Munda said in a statement, extending condolence to the kin in the incident.

“One member of the affected families should get a job in the Railways,” the leader of the opposition in Jharkhand Assembly said here.

A speeding train mowed 37 devotees at Dhamara Ghat Station in Khagaria district earlier in the day.

Ludhiana : The mobile wing of the Excise and Taxation Department today seized 85 consignments from the railway station.The consignments were coming from Delhi and consisted mainly of hosiery and electronic goods.“We have seized 85 parcels from the railway station, which were coming from Delhi and were without bills. The verification of the goods will be done tomorrow. Then, we will come to know about the exact value of the goods,” said Jaskaran Brar, AETC, Mobile Wing.

LUCKNOW: After UP cabinet nod to the detailed project report (DPR) on the Metro rail project in Lucknow, the ball is now in the Central government's court. The project execution would mainly depend on the Central funding, without which the project may not get implemented. The project holds significance for the Samajwadi Party which is gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections.Sources in the housing department said the state government will now follow the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) model wherein the Centre and the state will together be putting 50% equity. According to the model, the maximum equity could be up to 20% of the total cost. That is, the state government will seek at least 20% of the funds of the total project cost from the Centre while pushing the rest 20% from its own purse. The state government will raise the remaining 60% of the project cost through loans from the financial institutions.

Initial estimates peg the project cost around Rs 12,000 crore. This means the state would seek between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500 crore from the Centre for the Metro project.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has already declared that work on the project would begin in December this year. But that will happen only when the Centre approves the DPR and gives financial assistance. Sources said until now the state government had only prepared a draft report, but now the latest report has been finalised and will be sent to the Centre for approval. Officials said the Centre may have two options: it could either give its nod or send back the report for some modifications. Sources indicated the state government in certain cases may also raise its equity, while still depending heavily on the loans from the financial institutions.

The state government would form a company on the lines of DMRC only after getting clearance for DPR. It could be named as Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC). Owing to uncertainty over the financial model the state government has not formed a company till now.

The project has already undergone dramatic changes, ostensibly the proposed routes and the way they would be laid -- elevated/underground. Sources said a consultant for a detail design of the project will be appointed. The state government is in touch with the two Central institutions - RITES and the DMRC - in this regard. Officials said DMRC was certain to come up with a design for the north-south corridor which is proposed to be taken up in the first phase.

The 22.8-Km north-south corridor, stretching between Amausi airport and Munshipulia, has been modified in the new DPR. The new DPR has reduced the underground stretch from 7.5 km to 3.5 km while restricting it to between Charbagh and Hazratganj. This will save around Rs 1,000 crore from the total project cost, sources said. The total cost of the N-S corridor is pegged at Rs 6,757 crore. The north-south corridor will have 22 stations - three underground and rest elevated. The corroder is expected to see passenger footfall of around 6.45 lakh daily by 2020.

During peak hours, technically termed as Peak House Peak Direction Traffic, the number of passengers is expected to be around 21,000 daily.

ALLAHABAD: The railway administration had decided to fix quota in the selection of Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking Sewak (JTBS) operators. Under the scheme, the selected persons are empowered to issue general tickets to the passengers at major locations in the city. Director (passenger marketing), Railway Board, Monica Agnihotri had written letters to all the chief commercial managers of the zonal railways in this regard. There would be 49.5% reservation of the total number of JTBSs on the divisional basis. Of this, 12% has been reserved for people belonging to Scheduled Caste, 8% for Scheduled Tribes, 20% for persons belonging to other backward classes (OBCs) while 9.5% has been reserved for person belonging to the minorities communities. The minorities would include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis).

In each category, 10% would be for freedom fighters and women, including war widows and widows of railway employees and 10% for physically challenged persons. Apart from this, 10% reservation for the disabled persons would be applicable in the general category also.

The JTBS operators are allowed to issue season tickets. Each season ticket is to be treated as a single ticket/single passenger for the purpose of levy of service charge. Service charges to be realized by JTBS is Re 1 per passenger. Bank guarantee had been reduced to Rs 20,000 from Rs 40,000 and security deposit has been reduced to Rs 5,000 from existing Rs 15,000. JTBS operators are also permitted to operate one additional counter provided the sale of tickets is more than 800 per day on each counter for a period of one month. They may be allowed to shift from the original location to a new location at own cost with a view to increase sale of tickets.

The tenure of contract is enhanced to three years, renewable by a tenure of three years, subject to satisfactory performance. and the operators abide by terms and conditions prevailing at the time of renewal.

The railway ministry had introduced this scheme in 2008 with a view to appoint JSTB Sewaks in various parts of cities for issue of unreserved tickets through Computerized Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS).

Temporary Additional AC First Class Coach to Hyderabad-Trivandrum-Hyderabad Sabari Express

  South Central Railway will temporarily augment Hyderabad-Trivandrum-Hyderabad Sabari Express with o­ne additional AC First Class Coachfrom 25th to 31st August, 2013 to clear the extra rush / waitlisted  passengers as per the following schedule.

Accordingly, Tr.No.17230 Hyderabad-Trivandrum-Hyderabad Sabari Express will be temporarily augmented with o­ne additional AC First Class coach Ex-Hyderabad from 25th to 31st August, 2013.

Tr.No.17229 Trivandrum-Hyderabad-Trivandrum Sabari Express will be temporarily augmented with o­ne additional AC First Class coach Ex-Trivandrum from 27th to 31stAugust, 2013.

These two additional AC First Class Coaches will make available 216 additional First Class berths.

KOLKATA: A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has brought to light the unhygienic conditions that prevail at major stations like Howrah and Sealdah as well as on trains. The report has also exposed how unclean linen is supplied to upper-class passengers.Eastern Railway (ER) is among the four zones with the maximum number of stations without cement-concrete (CC) aprons, a pre-requisite for mechanized cleaning. Only between 60 and 71% of stations in these zones have the facility."Provision for washable aprons was found inadequate even in major stations of ER such as Howrah, Naihati, Malda, Bandel, Burdwan and Sealdah. The CAG also noted improper sanitation due to night soil deposit on damaged aprons or absence of washable aprons at the Naihati, Bandel, Burdwan and Asansol stations under ER. Thus the railway administration was not able to effectively implement the Railway Board's guidelines of December, 2006, for mechanized cleaning of all major stations," the CAG report states.

The CAG audit has also noted several shortcomings in the Clean Train Stations (CTS) scheme. "Audit observed an average shortfall of about 20% in the number of trains actually cleaned under CTS. The trains cleaned under this scheme were only partially attended," the report said. Sleeper class coaches mostly remained unattended. During joint inspection of trains attended through the CTS project, audit observed that vestibules between coaches were littered with untreated food, used plastic plates, tea cups and other items. These are then thrown out on to the tracks. Toilets in most of the trains inspected were either chocked or dirty," the report states.

According to the CAG, Indian Railways has only partially achieved the objective of maintaining cleanliness in trains mainly due to poor planning and inadequate monitoring at the zonal level. The report has also found several problems with the On Board Housekeeping System (OBHS) on mail/express trains. Under this system, housekeeping staff from private agencies are to travel in passenger coaches and clean toilets, aisles, doorways and compartments. The audit has revealed that of the 554 pairs of trains identified under this scheme, tenders were finalized only for 350 pairs. Based on average Passenger Satisfaction Index, Rs 53 lakh was recovered by South Eastern Railway (SER) from private contractors responsible for OBHS at the Santragachi and Tatanagar stations. The report also has a photograph of a water-logged, dirty, washbasin on the Howrah-Barbil Jan Shatabdi Express which is under OBHS. "Audit conducted in 88 trains revealed several deficiencies. There is lack of adequate publicity through public address system in the station before the start of the journey about the presence of the executive housekeeper for cleaning and sanitation work on the running train. The terms and conditions of OBHS agreement provides for disposal of garbage at notified stations en-route. It was observed that staff didn't turn up for collection of garbage at the notified stations. Sleeper class coaches were mostly left unattended. There is lack of adequate supervision by railway officials in respect of activities of staff involved in OBHS," it has been stated in the report.

The CAG audit has also revealed that unclean linen is supplied to passengers. While ER imposed a penalty of Rs 37.10 lakh on private contractors for not adhering to quality norms, SER charged Rs 12.34 lakh. It was revealed during the audit that 'linen supplied is dirty, torn/tattered and has outlived its prescribed life.' It has been noted that sufficient numbers of automated mechanized laundries have not been set up by the railway zones, resulting in over-dependence on private agencies.

Trains passing through the Irugur-Coimbatore-Podanur section will be able to overcome delays once the remodelling works at Podanur Junction was over and the steps taken to increase the speed of trains are implemented, said Sujatha Jeyaraj, Salem Divisional Railway Manager, here on Tuesday.She was talking to reporters after visiting the Science Express — Bio-diversity Special, and inspecting the ongoing works. Ms. Jeyaraj said that the yard remodelling works at Rs. 15 crore would help remove bottlenecks. A proposal to increase the speed of trains on the Irugur — Coimbatore section from 70 kmph to 100 kmph had been submitted for approval, she said. .

One more platform would come up at the Podanur Junction. Yard remodelling would help re-route a few more trains via Coimbatore.

Ms. Jeyaraj was confident of completing the second subway at Coimbatore Junction in September. The completion of second subway would enable operation of battery cars between platforms. Construction of roof, drinking water facility, and toilets on platforms 5 and 6 would be completed at the earliest.

A lift for passengers would come up at the existing subway. Construction works for a building for reservation, with cafeteria and multi-level parking would begin on the Goods Shed Road soon.

A proposal had been submitted to stop trains terminating at Coimbatore Junction, at Coimbatore North Railway Station for two minutes, she said. Electrification of the Coimbatore — Mettupalayam section at a cost of Rs. 26.8 crore would begin in two months.

Ms. Jeyaraj said that efforts were on to expedite the introduction of the Coimbatore — Rameswaram weekly train service, and to increase the frequency of the Coimbatore — Tirupati Intercity Express. A proposal had submitted to the IRCTC to create an executive lounge at Coimbatore Junction.

The gauge conversion works along Palakkad — Pollachi section would be over by March 2014. The works along Pollachi — Podanur section was getting delayed because of problems in land acquisition.