ProUI

Work to overshoot September deadline; bridge to be ready by December

Motorists and pedestrians will have to jostle for space through rickety service roads of Ponnurunni overbridge for another four more months, since the bridge will be ready only by December.Back in March, Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) had fixed September as the extended deadline to open the bridge for traffic. The 15-month original deadline expired long back.A couple of days ago, work resumed on excavating and filling the approach portions of the bridge on the Vyttila side. Sources associated with the project said the bridge could have been commissioned a few months earlier if the Commissioner for Railway Safety had accorded its nod for the design of the bridge’s railway portion.“Much time was wasted in speeding up the process for CRS nod. This time, the Chief Minister and a few ministers had to pressurise the Railway for ensuring the CRS nod,” sources said.One reason for the lag is the reliance on outdated concrete-girder technology. The process is time-consuming and RBDCK will have to wait for the Railway’s nod for executing work over the three-lane track.Adoption of steel-girder technology would have enabled speedy completion of works since (pre-cast) girders could easily have been launched or pushed into place over the railway track. Though it is costlier than conventional technology, the rise in project cost will be negligible since the Railway shares half the expenses.

Sources in RBDCK said the agency has decided to adopt the updated technology for its future bridge projects since it saves time and undue expenses and hassles for the agency and also contracting firms.

There was criticism that delay in handing over land on the Vyttila side of the bridge held up work on the bridge’s approach portion. “The work on the bridge and approach portion could have been taken up simultaneously if land was handed over on time,” sources associated with the project said.

The delay in land acquisition has in turn held up the development of the service road on the eastern side. Now, vehicles in either direction cram the ill-maintained service road on the western side, often causing chaos and traffic hold-ups. The footpath too is in bad shape, prompting pedestrians to step onto the road.

The fear is rife that traffic hold-ups in the narrow underpass of Vyttila bridge will worsen once the bridge is commissioned since buses and heavy vehicles too will begin using the stretch. Over a year ago, the NHAI had sought Rs. 1 crore to develop an alternative underpass near the adjacent railway line.

PATNA: The Danapur division of East Central Railway (ECR) runs about 12 to 14 pairs of local trains to cater to the needs of passengers. However, passengers face numerous problems while travelling. Overcrowding is a major problem in these trains. The most crowded section is the Patna-Gaya (PG) route of the Danapur division. The railways have been running several pairs of MEMUs on this route from morning to evening to facilitate office goers, businessmen and others. The occupancy rate on this route has been enormously high causing a lot of rush in all bogies.In some of the local trains running on the Patna-Gaya route, the rush of passengers is so much that they risk their lives by travelling on the footboards or rooftops. A local train (63244) on the PG route has a capacity of about 698 seats but the number of passengers travelling by this train is about 1200 to 1300. The condition in some other trains (63247-63288) is more or less the same. Passengers travel with great difficulty because of the overcrowded bogies. The commuter trains running between Patna and Buxar are also packed with no room for passengers.

B N Sahay, general secretary, Bihar Daily Passengers Association, told TOI, "Commuters continue to be the most harassed lot in the division. Unfortunately, none of the local trains are running on time. Accidental deaths are being reported from different places in the division. Passengers fall down from running trains due to the overcrowded bogies." Railways should either introduce more local trains or increase the number of bogies to accommodate more passengers, he said.

Despite frantic efforts, Danapur DRM NK Gupta could not be contacted for his comments on the problem. A railway official of the division, however, said the railway officials would look into the problems being faced by the passengers daily.

In a bid to fulfil the light refreshment requirements of passengers boarding and alighting trains at railway stations, 45 stations under the Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division are getting new catering stalls. Of this, 39 stations are in Kerala. Stations coming under the lower income D, E categories and halt stations in the F category are getting the stalls. Ten stations are in the D category and 29 are in the E category. The only F station where the stall is being installed is in Tamil Nadu. All these stalls are coming up for the first time in the respective stations. In some stations stalls are coming up on two platforms.  Of this, permission has been granted to install stalls in 19 stations. Whereas in some stations, none has responded. “For the stations where no applications have been received, we would invite fresh applications,” said a railway official.

When some stations which have lowest income got no takers, the stations which witness large number of passengers too evoked no response. For all these stations, fresh applications will be invited, including the B category stations, the official said.

PATNA: New divisional railway manager (DRM) N K Gupta of the Danapur division of East Central Railway (ECR) has said that safety of passengers and punctuality of trains would be his top priority. The division is facing several problems, posing a serious challenge to the DRM.

The division lacks proper infrastructure to maintain smooth run of about 200 and odd pairs of passenger trains either originating or passing through the division. It has Up and Down lines on the main line only, particularly between Mughalsarai and Jhajha. The proposal for the third line between Ara and Fatuha is still pending with railway ministry for sanction, sources said.

Though the third line is the need of the hour, railways has maintained silence on the issue for long causing unnecessary detention of mail and express trains at outer stations or signals. That apart, the division has no contingency plan to cope with heavy traffic. Patna Junction is a hub of passenger trains. About one lakh passengers move here everyday. Yet there is no proper planning to cope with passengers’ rush during peak hours. The entire concourse area is full of unauthorized people and vendors. As a result, it is very difficult to move freely with luggage.

The division transports a large number of daily passengers on the Buxar-Patna, Patna-Mokama, Patna-Gaya, Kiul-Gaya and Bakhtiarpur-Rajgir sections of the division. For them, the division has provided several pairs of local trains including MEMUs. But, barring MEMUs, none of the local trains is running on time causing hardship to passengers, mostly office-goers.

Illegal stoppage of trains, rampant alarm chain pulling, frequent attacks on railway property by miscreants, drugging menace and luggage lifting are some of the other problems faced by the Danapur division which have badly affected the normal movement of trains. The new DRM will have to work hard to ensure that all safety rules are strictly followed.

Cleanliness on railway platforms, not only at Patna Junction but at all major stations of the division, is another challenge for the new DRM. Punctuality of trains, at least for those trains originating from the division, would be another uphill task.

NEW DELHI

Dt.10.08.2013
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NORTHERN RAILWAY EXTENDS THE RUN OF  04511/04512 MEMU (DAILY) SPECIAL TRAIN BETWEEN SAHARANPUR- AMBALA CANTT.- SAHARANPUR(62 TRIPS)
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          To clear extra rush of passengers, Northern Railway has decided to extend the run of train No. 04511/04512 Saharanpur- Ambala Cantt.- Saharanpur MEMU (Daily) special with immediate effect upto 09.09.2013  as per the following programme:

          The 04511 Saharanpur- Ambala Cantt. MEMU (Daily) special train will depart from Saharanpur at 04.45 a.m. to reach Ambala Cantt. at 06.30 a.m. the same day. In the return direction, the 04512 Ambala Cantt.- Saharanpur MEMU (Daily) special train will depart from Ambala Cantt. at 08.35 p.m. to reach Saharanpurat 10.35 p.m. the same day.

          The 04511/04512 Saharanpur- Ambala Cantt.- Saharanpur MEMU (Daily) special train will stop at Pilkhani, Sarsawa, Kalanaur, Jagadhari, Jagadhari Workshop, Darazpur, Mustafabad, Barara, Tandwal, Kesari & Dukheri stations enroute in both the directions.

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.

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.

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.

PUNE: Forest department officials from the state may no longer have to travel to other states for training as the department's education and training wing has set up a state forest academy at Kundal in Sangli district.

The academy will be inaugurated by the forest minister Patangrao Kadam on August 15. "The department will run a month-long training course for forest guards for now, but there are bigger plans," said N H Kakodkar, chief conservator of forest (education and training). Set up at a cost of Rs 34 crore on 11 hectares, the infrastructure of the academy should be complete by next June, he added.

"Once the academy is complete, we hope to conduct training programmes for range forest officers (RFO) and assistant conservators of forests (ACF)," he said. At present, the department runs five forest training institutes, but these cater to the training of forest guards and foresters, he said.

The ACFs from the state have to either go to the Central Academy for State Forest Service in Dehradun or the State Forest Service College in Coimbatore for training. The RFOs undergo training in the Andhra Pradesh Forest Academy in Hyderabad, Kakodkar said. About 60 such forest officials are trained every year, he added.

To set up the academy for training officials, the authorities will require recognition from the Directorate of Forest Education. "The process has already begun and once the infrastructure is complete, it will be taken forward," Kakodkar said.

The academy will also provide training to employees from other departments on environmental issues. There are personnel in several departments who are concerned with matters such as environmental clearances. Very often public works department (PWD), irrigation or energy-related projects require these clearances. The proposals go back and forth resulting in delays and cost escalations, Kakotkar said.

"At present, the impression is that the forest department is against development. But, if we can change the mindset, then concerns can be addressed in the proposal stage itself," he said.

Kakotkar said if a road project requires forest land, the threat to wildlife crossing the road increases. If those preparing the proposal are aware of this threat, then they may suggest the construction of barriers along the road, factoring the additional cost at this stage itself. The hike in the project cost may also make them look for alternatives.

The Palakkad Division of Southern Railway has said that train services will be regulated in connection with yard re-modelling work at Podanur junction from August 10 to 26.

It said that train no. 16107/16108 Chennai Egmore – Mangalore – Chennai Egmore Express will be partially cancelled between Coimbatore and Mangalore during August 20-25.

Train no. 16107 Chennai Egmore – Mangalore Central Express will be regulated for 60 minutes at Coimbatore on August 11, 13, 14; and for 70 minutes on August 12, 15. This train will be regulated for 120 minutes at Coimbatore on August 16; for 60 minutes on August 17, 18 and 19; and for 70 minutes on August 26.

Train no. 16318 Jammutawi–Kanyakumari Express will be regulated for 105 minutes at Coimbatore on August 15, and for 105 minutes on August 22.

On August 16, train no. 12678 Ernakulam Junction – Bangalore Express will be regulated for 45 minutes at Madukkarai, and the train no. 13352 Alleppey – Dhanbad – Alleppey Express for 75 minutes at Madukkarai. On that day, the train no. 13351 Dhanbad – Alleppey – Dhanbad Express will be regulated for 60 minutes at Coimbatore.

On August 16, and the train no. 12660 Shalimar – Nagercoil Express will be regulated for 90 minutes at Coimbatore, it said.