ProUI

Debaraj Panda, an officer of 1985 batch of the Indian Railway Traffic Service has joined as New Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) in Sambalpur Division of East Coast Railway. Prior to this new posting Panda was serving as Chief Freight Transportation Manager (CFTM) of East Coast Railway at Bhubaneswar.  Thereafter, he has worked in various important capacities in Adra, Waltair and Khurda divisions of South Eastern Railway and East Coast Railway.  He worked as Chief Vigilance officer in East Coast Railway Head quarters office. He also served in IRCTC as Group General Manager at Kolkata and as Chief Passenger Transportation Manager (CPTM) of East Coast Railway head quarters office. Apart from the above, he has also undergone training in strategic Management at Paris and Johannesburg.

Chennai: The Madras bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has dismissed an application fro­m the general manager of the Integrated Coach Fac­tory (ICF), to constitute a fresh selection committee comprising officials from traffic and accounts of the railway board and conduct a fresh selection for the post of member (technical), Railway Cla­ims Tri­bunal.Dismissing the petition from Abhay Kumar Kha­nna who was working as GM, ICF, the bench comprising judicial member K. Elango and administrative member Naresh Gupta held that CAT has no jurisdiction and competence over the issue.Advocate A. Abdul Ajees, counsel for the petitioner, contended that Abhay Kumar Khanna had app­lied for the post of member (technical), in the Railway Claims Tribunal in res­ponse to an advertisement dated January 31, 2013 and attended an interview on April 13, 2013.The selection committee was not constituted as per law. On May 23, 2013, he submitted a representation to the ministry of railways. As there was no response, the official filed this petition.

P. Srinivasan, senior standing counsel for railways, argued that CAT has no jurisdiction to decide the issue and prayed for dismissal of the petition.

Citing a judgment of the HC  where it was observed that the selection of a member (judicial) of the Railway Claims Tribunal was governed by the provisions of the Railway Claims Act, Srinivasan said CAT cannot go into the aspects of appointment of a person to the bench of another tribunal, also governed by a similar enactment. The Railway Claims Tribunal was on the same footing as that of CAT, he added.

Concurring, the bench dismissed the application.

बिलासपुर। कटनी रूट पर हुए रेल हादसे के कारण रेल प्रशासन को एक झटके में 30 करोड़ रुपए से ज्यादा का नुकसान हो गया। रेल प्रशासन नुकसान का आंकलन करने में जुटा है और प्रारंभिक आंकलन में आंकड़ा 30 करोड़ रुपए के पार पहुंच रहा है। सुधार कार्य की लागत को जोडऩे से यह आंकड़ा 50 करोड़ रुपए के पार होगा।

7 अगस्त की शाम कटनी रूट पर सारबहरा स्टेशन के करीब एक मालगाड़ी दुर्घटनाग्रस्त हुई थी। इसके चलते इस रूट पर 44 घंटे तक रेल यातायात ठप रहा, वहीं 2 लाइट इंजन और 28 वैगन पटरी से उतरकर बुरी तरीके से क्षतिग्रस्त हो गए। शुक्रवार को रेल यातायात बहाल होने के बाद रेल प्रशासन यह जानकारी जुटा रहा है कि आखिर हादसे से नुकसान कितने का हुआ? यह काम अभी अधूरा है, लेकिन प्रारंभिक आंकलन के मुताबिक नुकसान का आंकड़ा 30 करोड़ रुपए के पार पहुंच चुका है।

नुकसान को ऐसे समझा जा सकता है कि हादसे में 28 वैगन व 2 लाइट इंजन पटरी से उतरे थे। इसमें से 10 वैगन एक दूसरे से इस तरह टकराए कि इन्हें काटकर अलग करना पड़ा। ये वैगन अब लोहे के टुकड़ों में तब्दील हो गए हैं। इसी तरह दोनों लाइट इंजन पटरी से बीस फीट दूर जाकर जमीन में धंस गए। इंजन पूरी तरह बेकार तो नहीं हुए, लेकिन इन्हें बाहर निकालना मुश्किल है। दो इंजनों की कीमत 7 करोड़ रुपए है। 18 वैगन क्षतिग्रस्त हुए हैं, लेकिन सुधार के बाद इनका उपयोग संभव है। एक वैगन की कीमत 25 लाख रुपए है, इस हिसाब से 10 वैगनों के चकनाचूर होने से 2.50 करोड़ रुपए का नुकसान हो गया। इसी तरह क्षतिग्रस्त 18 वैगनों में 12 लाख रुपए के औसत से 2.16 करोड़ रुपए की हानि का अनुमान है।

रेल प्रशासन को सबसे बड़ा नुकसान रेल यातायात के 44 घंटे ठप रहने से हुआ है। इस दौरान माल और यात्री परिवहन ठप रहने से कम से कम 10 करोड़ रुपए का नुकसान हुआ। इस तरह यह आंकड़ा 30 करोड़ रुपए पहुंच गया है। इसमें सुधार कार्य पर हुए खर्च को शामिल करने पर रेल प्रशासन को एक झटके में 50 करोड़ रुपए से ज्यादा की नुकसान हो गया।

तीसरे दिन भी प्रभावित रहीं ट्रेनें
रेल हादसे के चलते यात्री ट्रेनें लगातार तीसरे दिन भी प्रभावित रहीं। लखनऊ से दुर्ग आने वाली गरीबरथ, अमृतसर से विशाखापट्नम जाने वाली हीराकुंड, भोपाल से दुर्ग आने वाली अमरकंटक, जम्मूतवी से दुर्ग आने वाली जम्मूतवी और हरिद्वार से पुरी जाने वाली उत्कल एक्सप्रेस को बीच के स्टेशनों में कंट्रोल करते हुए लाया गया। इसके चलते ट्रेनें 4 से 7 घंटे तक लेट होकर बिलासपुर पहुंची। इसके अलावा बिलासपुर से कटनी के बीच चलने वाली मेमू लोकल को शहडोल में रद्द किया गया। बिलासपुर से इंदौर जाने वाली नर्मदा एक्सप्रेस को भी रद्द कर दिया गया।

आज अमरकंटक, कल नर्मदा एक्सप्रेस नहीं आएगी
रूट के खुलने में हुई देरी के कारण गुरुवार को ऐन वक्त पर दुर्ग-भोपाल अमरकंटक एक्सप्रेस को रद्द किया गया। इसके चलते भोपाल में रैक की कमी हुई और शुक्रवार को भोपाल से दुर्ग के लिए रवाना होने वाली ट्रेन को रद्द करना पड़ा। इस तरह अमरकंटक एक्सप्रेस शनिवार की सुबह बिलासपुर नहीं आएगी। बिलासपुर से इंदौर जाने वाली नर्मदा एक्सप्रेस शुक्रवार को रद्द रही। इसके चलते इंदौर में शनिवार को रैक की कमी रहेगी। नतीजतन नर्मदा एक्सप्रेस शनिवार को इंदौर से रवाना नहीं होगी। यानी रविवार को कटनी से बिलासपुर के बीच इस ट्रेन की सुविधा नहीं मिलेगी।

The state government might have spent huge amount of money in afforestation across the state to save the ecology, due to negligence or alleged help of forest department officers, railway workers have fallen nearly 500 young trees from the protected forest area without taking mandatory permission from the department. The permission, if obtained, could have added lakhs of rupees in to state exchequer, claimed Subhash Chander Sharma, a retired forest officer.He had also lodged a written complaint to the senior officials of forest department and wildlife preservation authority in this regard.Vide notification issued on May 3, 1958 by state government, the strips of government forest or waste lands on either side of all roads, canals and railways in Punjab was declared as protected forest area and permission of the forest department is mandatory to cut tree from these areas."The trees were planted in 2003-2004 by the department on the banks of Ferozepur-Jalandhar railway line under my supervision when I was the range in-charge and muster roll for making payment to the labourers must be in the department records as lakhs of rupees were spent by the department on this project," Sharma said.Under the project of closing unmanned railway crossings, a road is being constructed by northern railways along with the railway line from Mirpur railway crossing to Khojewala railway crossing and in this process; unmanned crossing of village Feroze will be closed, Sharma added."To level the surface for laying roads, the railway department had uprooted the trees by using JCB machine and forest department officials are yet to wake up from slumber," he rued."Uprooted trees lying on nearby fields are often carried by villagers, who use them for fuel.After my repeated urges, they started removing the trees from the fields," Sharma said. The department did not count the trees and the railway workers took advantage of it, he claimed.
"The authorities have no right to cut the trees from protected forest area. They violated Section two of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980," said Sharma.Divisional railway manager NC Goel, showed ignorance on the issue and assured he will seek report from the department regarding the issue.Range officer Lachhman Singh said, "Only seven to eight trees have been cut by the railway workers and we had asked them to stop work. I am going on site to assess the situation and action will be taken against the guilty,"However, Lachhman Singh gave the latest report later saying, "20 to 30 trees have been uprooted for road construction but that land was under the custody of railway. We cannot stop them from doing so." Singh also took a dig at Sharma saying, "The complainant in this case is a habitual complainant and he used to do so for his vested interests.

फिरोजपुर रेल डिवीजन के अधिकारियों द्वारा खेमकरण-अमृतसर के बीच रेल ट्रैक का जायजा लिया गया। ट्रैक का जायजा लेने के लिए फिरोजपुर से सीनियर डिवीजनल इंजीनियर अशोक शर्मा पहुंचे थे। उन्होंने रेल ट्राली के जरिए इस ट्रैक का जायजा लिया।
इस बारे में जानकारी देते हुए अमृतसर के डिवीजन इंजीनियर एनकेएस बग्गा ने कहा कि इस ट्रैक का जायजा इसलिए लिया गया है ताकि इसमें कहीं खराबी न हो। आए दिन हादसों का कारण बन रहे कमजोर ट्रैक पर अधिकारियों द्वारा पैनी नजर रखी जा रही है। इसके अलावा सीनियर डिवीजनल इंजीनियर अशोक शर्मा द्वारा अमृतसर रेलवे स्टेशन के रेल ट्रैक, प्लेटफार्मो का जायजा भी लिया गया।

MUMBAI: Central Railway's (CR) power-conversion project to change from Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) has failed to gain traction although its deadline was extended on numerous occasions. Central Railway's DC-AC power conversion project has failed to gain traction even though the deadline has been revised on numerous occasions in the past.The switchover is the key to improving energy conservation and the performance of suburban and long-distance trains. While Western Railway (WR) effected the turnaround in February 5, 2012, CR stretches-Kalyan-Thane and Thane-LTT (fifth and sixth line)-are yet to be converted to AC.The authorities have failed to get their act together. Commissioner of railway safety (central circle) Chetan Bakshi has insisted on implementation of a few crucial things before granting a clearance." said a CR official. The then Union railway minister had announced that CR would be able to complete the DC-AC conversion by March 31, 2013end of financial year 2012-13. However, four months after the March deadline passed, CR is struggling to switch to AC even up to LTT. Many officials concede that the railway board's electrical directorate has done a botched job. Some officials also resent the intervention of the commissioner of railway safety (CRS), others claim that the queries raised by him are "relevant".

"The CRS has refused to budge from his stand as he does not want to compromise on safety. His main concerns are lack of adequate gap between the overhead wire and the roof of foot overbridges, road overbridges and the Parsik tunnel. Many officials are also wary of undertaking the switchover work in monsoon," a CR official said. For the stretch below the FOBS and ROB, CRS is happy to grant approval provided the CR authorities obtain clearance from the railway board. However, at Parsik tunnel, he has refused to grant approval unless adequate gap is maintained between OHE and base of the roof.

An official said, "A height of the 4.69 meter between the railway level and the OHE wire has to be maintained in AC section. CRS has found that the OHE wires at 70 meters in the tunnel are at an increased height. CRS has fears that Pantographs will graze against the tunnels surface, thus affecting operations and also safety

The only solution is to lower the tracks keeping into factor the maximum moving dimension of a train. His fears are not unfounded as 25 pantographs as many as 8 trains were damaged after grazing the tunnel surface for similar reason in May 2013.These trains were withdrawn from services, leading to major disruption on CR.

A CR official said, "We have taken a block on Sunday to lower the tracks so concerns raised by CRS are addressed. An inspection by CRS will be carried out in next couple of weeks."

Officials feel they can clear the hurdles.

"We hope to switching to AC from Kalyan to LTT by August-end," said CR public relations officer Atul Rane.

i. The project, the cost

CR has yet to switch to 25 KV Alternating Current between Kalyan-CST and Panvel-CST, spanning across 1,681-km tracks.

Cost: Rs 796 crore

ii. Original deadline

March 2012-13

Sept 2012: Kalyan-Thane-LTT stretch

iii. Revised deadline

May 2013: Revised deadline for Kalyan-Thane and Thane-LTT section.

iv. The problem

Since the section will switch to AC, adequate gap has to be maintained between base of the bridge/tunnel and the Over Head Wires. CRS, central circles wants this to be sorted out as he feels that inadequate height can lead to operations problems.

v. How it will improve your ride

Apart from energy savings, CR will be able to add more services because of improved speed while the maximum speed under the DC system is 80 kmph, AC-compatible rakes can clock 100 kmph.

Currently, AC compatible locomotives cannot ply south of Kalyan, while DC locomotive cannot run North of this station. Around 44 long distance trains that leave from LTT everyday have to spend 20 minutes on an average at Igatpuri or Bhusaval to change the locomotive. On switching to AC, mail/express trains will make savings of this many minutes.

Chennai: The Madras bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has dismissed an application fro­m the general manager of the Integrated Coach Fac­tory (ICF), to constitute a fresh selection committee comprising officials from traffic and accounts of the railway board and conduct a fresh selection for the post of member (technical), Railway Cla­ims Tri­bunal.Dismissing the petition from Abhay Kumar Kha­nna who was working as GM, ICF, the bench comprising judicial member K. Elango and administrative member Naresh Gupta held that CAT has no jurisdiction and competence over the issue.Advocate A. Abdul Ajees, counsel for the petitioner, contended that Abhay Kumar Khanna had app­lied for the post of member (technical), in the Railway Claims Tribunal in res­ponse to an advertisement dated January 31, 2013 and attended an interview on April 13, 2013.The selection committee was not constituted as per law. On May 23, 2013, he submitted a representation to the ministry of railways. As there was no response, the official filed this petition.

P. Srinivasan, senior standing counsel for railways, argued that CAT has no jurisdiction to decide the issue and prayed for dismissal of the petition.

Citing a judgment of the HC  where it was observed that the selection of a member (judicial) of the Railway Claims Tribunal was governed by the provisions of the Railway Claims Act, Srinivasan said CAT cannot go into the aspects of appointment of a person to the bench of another tribunal, also governed by a similar enactment. The Railway Claims Tribunal was on the same footing as that of CAT, he added.

Concurring, the bench dismissed the application.

Jammu: Rail services were disrupted on Saturday on the Jammu-Pathankot route as the ABVP activists stopped a train at the Kathua railway station protesting the recent clashes at Kishtwar district. Demanding sacking of the Minister of State for Home, Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo over the Kishtwar incident, the activists of ABVP blocked the railway tracks and raised anti-government slogans, police said. The Ahmedabad-bound train from Jammu was stopped for a brief period by the activists at the Kathua station. However, the rail services were restored when the protesters left the spot. Several political parties, including BJP, have blamed Kitchloo for the clashes between the two communities and demanded a high-level probe by independent authority. Meanwhile, VHP condemned the communal violence in Kishtwar and asked the Centre to take immediate steps in this regard, otherwise it would have "far reaching repercussions". "The killing of five jawans by the militants along the LoC is a well-planned conspiracy and the terrorists were responsible for the communal clashes in Kishtwar on Friday," VHP spokesperson Prakash Sharma said in a statement here.

The activists of ABVP blocked the railway tracks and raised anti-government slogans demanding sacking of the Minist "The Centre should take urgent measures to protect the minority communities and should or otherwise the incident would have far reaching repercussions," Sharma added. Clashes between two communities left two people dead and at least 20 injured, several business establishments and vehicles gutted in arson in Kishtwar district where curfew was clamped and Army called in to assist the local administration in maintaining law and order on Friday.

Bhubaneswar:The Dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the Odisha unit of BJP has hit normal life in Odisha as  public transport to go off the road,  and  left many commuters on the way to their respective destinations in the lurch today.

Party activists  resorted to road blockade and rail rook at various places during the 12 hour bandh protesting  death of dalit girl who was allegedly raped.

Rail services have also hit as the protesters  blocked rail track at Bhubaneswar station. Long route trains including Puri-Hatia Tapaswini Express, Puri- Yasavantpur express, Sambalpur and Bolangir Intercity were stopped at the platforms.

Expressing irk over the delay in train, a commuter said “We cannot reach our destination on time. The protesters should not halt train services.”

Demanding Naveen Patnaik’s resignation an activists said “People are supporting the bandh and  Naveen Patnaik has no right to continue. He should quit”.

The party members in and around the city blocked the road at different squares including Jayadev Vihar, Master Canteen, Rasulgarh square and Vani Vihar. They stopped all vehicles by picketing. Tyres were also found burnt on the roads at many places to obstruct the vehicles.

The ruling BJD however condemned  BJP’s bandh saying the bandh had caused hardship to the people.

Similarly, Odisha Congress has also declared to launch civil disobedience movement on August 20 and gherao the State Assembly during the session demanding CM’s resignation.

The state government might have spent huge amount of money in afforestation across the state to save the ecology, due to negligence or alleged help of forest department officers, railway workers have fallen nearly 500 young trees from the protected forest area without taking mandatory permission from the department. The permission, if obtained, could have added lakhs of rupees in to state exchequer, claimed Subhash Chander Sharma, a retired forest officer.He had also lodged a written complaint to the senior officials of forest department and wildlife preservation authority in this regard.Vide notification issued on May 3, 1958 by state government, the strips of government forest or waste lands on either side of all roads, canals and railways in Punjab was declared as protected forest area and permission of the forest department is mandatory to cut tree from these areas."The trees were planted in 2003-2004 by the department on the banks of Ferozepur-Jalandhar railway line under my supervision when I was the range in-charge and muster roll for making payment to the labourers must be in the department records as lakhs of rupees were spent by the department on this project," Sharma said.Under the project of closing unmanned railway crossings, a road is being constructed by northern railways along with the railway line from Mirpur railway crossing to Khojewala railway crossing and in this process; unmanned crossing of village Feroze will be closed, Sharma added."To level the surface for laying roads, the railway department had uprooted the trees by using JCB machine and forest department officials are yet to wake up from slumber," he rued."Uprooted trees lying on nearby fields are often carried by villagers, who use them for fuel.After my repeated urges, they started removing the trees from the fields," Sharma said. The department did not count the trees and the railway workers took advantage of it, he claimed.
"The authorities have no right to cut the trees from protected forest area. They violated Section two of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980," said Sharma.Divisional railway manager NC Goel, showed ignorance on the issue and assured he will seek report from the department regarding the issue.Range officer Lachhman Singh said, "Only seven to eight trees have been cut by the railway workers and we had asked them to stop work. I am going on site to assess the situation and action will be taken against the guilty,"However, Lachhman Singh gave the latest report later saying, "20 to 30 trees have been uprooted for road construction but that land was under the custody of railway. We cannot stop them from doing so." Singh also took a dig at Sharma saying, "The complainant in this case is a habitual complainant and he used to do so for his vested interests.