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लखनऊ । नई दिल्ली जाने वाली वीआईपी ट्रेन शताब्दी एक्सप्रेस में शनिवार को खराब खाना परोस दिया गया। यात्रियों को बदबूदार पनीर और कच्ची दाल दी गई। जिसे खाने के बाद कई लोगों की तबियत बिगड़ गई वहीं कुछ यात्रियों ने खाना खाने से मना कर दिया और नई दिल्ली पहुंचकर जमकर हंगामा किया। इसके बावजूद उनकी शिकायत दर्ज नहीं की गई।

शताब्दी एक्सप्रेस (ट्रेन-12003) दोपहर 3:35 बजे लखनऊ से नई दिल्ली को रवाना हुई थी। कोच सी-10 में करीब 80 यात्रियों को जो खाना परोसा गया उसमें पनीर से बदबू आ रही थी, मीठा दही भी खराब हो गया था जबकि, रोटी और दाल भी कच्ची थी। इसे देखकर कई यात्रियों ने खाना खाने से मना कर दिया। दिल्ली के राजेश शर्मा सहित एक दर्जन से अधिक यात्री खाना खाते ही उल्टियां करने लगे। कई यात्रियों के पेट में दर्द शुरू हो गया। यात्रियों ने दवा के लिए कोच कंडक्टर से सम्पर्क किया लेकिन रास्ते में कहीं भी डॉक्टर नहीं पहुंचे। इसी बोगी में लखनऊ से नई दिल्ली जा रहे राजेश शर्मा के पेट में भी दर्द उठा और उल्टियां हुईं। बर्थ संख्या 30 पर यात्रा कर रहे एक यात्री को भी उल्टी होने लगी। यात्रियोें ने इसकी शिकायत करने के लिए टीटीई से शिकायत पुस्तिका मांगी। पहले तो टीटीई काफी देर तक मामले को टालने का प्रयास करता रहा लेकिन यात्रियों की नाराजगी बढ़ते देख वह बोगी से भाग गया। किसी तरह बीमार यात्री नई दिल्ली पहुंचे तो वहां जमकर हंगामा किया। मामले की शिकायत रेलवे बोर्ड से भी कर दी गई है। तीन दिन पहले कानपुर के पास सियालदह राजधानी एक्सप्रेस में भी खराब खाना परोसा गया था। जबकि नवंबर 2012 में हावड़ा राजधानी में खराब खाना खाने से 50 लोग बीमार हो गए थे। इनमें कई सांसद भी थे।

UDHAGAMANDALAM, JULY 26:  Nearly 150 villages were cut off from the Ooty—Manjur road as a big eucalyptus tree fell across the ghat road and railway track near Lovedale as incessant rains continued to throw normal life out of gear in the Nilgiris District.  Two trains running between Udhagamandalam and Coonoor were cancelled, official sources said.  A holiday had been declared for schools and educational institutions for two days from today.  The restoration works were on a warfooting.

UDHAGAMANDALAM, JULY 26:  Nearly 150 villages were cut off from the Ooty—Manjur road as a big eucalyptus tree fell across the ghat road and railway track near Lovedale as incessant rains continued to throw normal life out of gear in the Nilgiris District.  Two trains running between Udhagamandalam and Coonoor were cancelled, official sources said.  A holiday had been declared for schools and educational institutions for two days from today.  The restoration works were on a warfooting.

GORAKHPUR: Under a massive environment protection drive undertaken by the North Eastern Railway, KKAtal, GM, NER, inaugurated a plantation programme by planting a sapling at Golf ground, Gorakhpur on Saturday.On the occasion, Atal said, "Trees are essential for life and without trees human would not exist on this beautiful planet. Due to the unprecedented cutting of trees, the whole ecological balance has been disturbed. We all should pledge to plant at least one tree in our life.""During this monsoon season, the plantation programme will be carried on the empty land of Railways," he added.OP Agarwal, princiapal chief engineer, RP Nibria, chief electrical engineer, Arvind Kumar, chief commercial engineer, Anil Sharma, chief mechanical engineer, HK Agarwal, chief signal and telecommunication engineer, PN Rai, SDGM, Bechu Rai, chief electrical engineer/head quarter, USS Yadav, chief track engineer, Alok Kumar Singh, CPRO, Amit Singh, secretary/GM, Sanjay Yadav, DGM/General and CM Chaudhary, dy chief engineer / Gorakhpur area also planted saplings on the occasion.

AHMEDABAD: The city attracts hundreds of visitors from different parts of the country every day. Some come in search of jobs or to establish a business while some others are here simply to see the state. Nowadays, however, it is children from other states found on railway platforms unescorted by any adult, who are keeping the railway police busy. In the past three months, the four railway stations in the city have reported one such child found almost each day. These children do not have their home in Gujarat. In 2012-13, the railway police had reported finding 239 such children in the entire year. In the first three months of 2013-14, 85 runaway kids have been found at the city's railway stations, a rise of 41 per cent.

Childline, an NGO working for child rights and which has a pan-India network for lost-and-found children, reported finding 85 children between March and June this year on the platforms of the city's railway stations. These kids, aged from 6 years to 16 years, were from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi. In three instances, the police found more than one such child on a day.

Purnima Gupta, assistant director of Childline, said that a majority of the children found alone at railway stations are boys. "The ratio between boys and girls is almost 3:1. Girls run away in search of greater security, particularly if they are orphaned, but boys leave their native places either to seek employment or after a fight at home. Most of these kids have just a few rupees to spend on travel and food. Once the money is spent, they get down at a railway station. As Ahmedabad is an important station on the Delhi-Mumbai route and has many trains touching the city, many children end their journey here," she said.

The city has four major railway stations - Kalupur, Maninagar, Vatva and Sabarmati. Childline officials said that most runaway children are found at Kalupur railway station. PP Pirojiya, Government Railway Police (GRP) inspector at Kalupur railway station, said that police alertness for children wandering alone at the station had increased after several children were reported missing within a short period of time last year.

"From February 2012, two teams led by a sub-inspector constantly keep watch for children who may be travelling alone. If found, they are taken to the police station where woman constables and NGO representatives question them about their native place and try to send them back," he said. He added that in 2012-13, more than 45 such children were found while in 2013-14 so far, they have reported 23 such kids.

Why do children run away from home? Gupta said that anything can trigger a knee-jerk response from children. "In a case reported in June, we found a 13-year-old boy at Kalupur railway station. He was from Janakpuri in New Delhi. When questioned, he stated that his father had beaten him up for playing games on his elder brother's mobile phone. He felt hurt and ran away from home. When we contacted his father the following day, he rushed to Ahmedabad and took him back to Delhi," she said.BOX

Girls seek greater security

Officials of Railway Protection Force (RPF) say that they had noticed a rise in the number of girl kids running away from home. Strangely, many of them are in search of greater security.

"This might seem contradictory but most such girls have either lost their parents or are unattached to their families because they had started working early in life. The most shocking case was reported in April this year when a six-year-old girl was found alone at Kalupur railway station. She said she had lost her parents earlier this year and after that the shanty in which she lived in Delhi was also demolished. When some miscreants tried to abduct her, she fled from the locality and boarded a train," said a police official. Later, the girl was shifted to Mahipatram Asharm.

Odd jobs suck in runaway kids

What happens to a child who lands in the city alone and is able to remain undetected? Sources said that while girls usually take up jobs as domestic help, boys frequently end up working at small industrial units in areas such as Odhav, Vatva and Naroda where they are exploited as cheap labour. Childline officials said that they had rescued a 14-year-old boy working at a panipuri handcart in Gomtipur. The boy was from Muzaffarpur where he had been pushed into farm labour at an early age. When he did not like it there, he fled home and ended up in Ahmedabad serving at the handcart.

"It shocked us when he told volunteers that he was suffering from gall bladder stones and wanted to save money for the surgery. Despite severe pain, he had worked for a pittance and without a day off for five months. After he was found, we called his uncle and handed over the boy to him," said a Childline official.

Its unclean premises and the apathetic attitude of railway authorities is robbing Old Delhi Railway Station of its heritage character

If you ask me, I would give two on a ten-point scale to this station considering the unhygienic condition here, said Chirag, who had just arrived by the Jammutavi-Delhi-Jaisalmer Express at the Old Delhi Railway Station. This one-and-a-half-century-old station, a part of the Delhi’s cultural heritage, is fast losing its attraction among travellers due to its deplorable condition.The oldest station in Delhi, it was established in 1864 when trains from Howrah started operating up to Delhi. The station is also known as Delhi Junction. The colonial government constructed the present station building in red stone to give it the effect of the nearby Red Fort. The station was opened to public in 1903.Starting out with two platforms and a handful of passengers, the station now handles lakhs of passengers and nearly 200 trains daily. The station was re-modelled in 1934-35 after the opening of the New Delhi Railway Station in 1926 and the inauguration of New Delhi in 1931. Since 1935, the station building was renovated again only last year.But the scenes at the station, even after renovation, hardly evoke positive feelings. Even before one enters the station, the stench of urine punches ones senses. The boundary wall has become a public lavatory with the authorities turning a blind eye to the situation.Vehicles can be seen entering the no-entry zone. The main entrance gate stands in a mess with sewer water and waste being collected there. Passengers themselves have added to the woes by littering the area — heightening the fear of spread of diseases. Again, the accumulated stagnant water is a perfect breeding ground for malaria and dengue causing mosquitoes.According to rules, one has to buy a platform ticket to enter the station and luggage is allowed inside only after a thorough check by security personnel. Here, however, there are many loopholes through which people can enter the station premises unchecked, thus raising a question on the security system.On the way to platforms, one has to cross the over-bridge which is overcrowded with people sitting and some even sleeping there. The information boards on the over-bridge calls it a offence where one can be fined Rs. 200. But it seems that both the lawmakers and breakers are on equal ground as neither of them bother about this mismanagement.

On the steps descending to the platforms from the over-bridge, people with huge luggage occupy most of the space — leaving little space for others to negotiate the crowd. Same is the case on platforms, too. The situation becomes even more chaotic when a train arrives and passengers are in a hurry to either board it or get down.

The open sewer by the railway tracks in another eyesore; it appears that the sewers have not been cleaned for ages. These, again, serve as public lavatories for ignorant passengers. With this amount of littering and dirt, the number of railway cleaning staff appears insufficient to keep the premises clean.

Even the roof of the platform shade has not been spared. Plastic bottles, chips packets, broken biscuits and beverage cans are found thrown here and there, dirtying it and giving out a foul smell.

The only question that comes in mind after surveying the scenario is, what are the authorities doing?

GORAKHPUR: Under a massive environment protection drive undertaken by the North Eastern Railway, KKAtal, GM, NER, inaugurated a plantation programme by planting a sapling at Golf ground, Gorakhpur on Saturday.On the occasion, Atal said, "Trees are essential for life and without trees human would not exist on this beautiful planet. Due to the unprecedented cutting of trees, the whole ecological balance has been disturbed. We all should pledge to plant at least one tree in our life.""During this monsoon season, the plantation programme will be carried on the empty land of Railways," he added.OP Agarwal, princiapal chief engineer, RP Nibria, chief electrical engineer, Arvind Kumar, chief commercial engineer, Anil Sharma, chief mechanical engineer, HK Agarwal, chief signal and telecommunication engineer, PN Rai, SDGM, Bechu Rai, chief electrical engineer/head quarter, USS Yadav, chief track engineer, Alok Kumar Singh, CPRO, Amit Singh, secretary/GM, Sanjay Yadav, DGM/General and CM Chaudhary, dy chief engineer / Gorakhpur area also planted saplings on the occasion.

UDHAGAMANDALAM, JULY 26:  Nearly 150 villages were cut off from the Ooty—Manjur road as a big eucalyptus tree fell across the ghat road and railway track near Lovedale as incessant rains continued to throw normal life out of gear in the Nilgiris District.  Two trains running between Udhagamandalam and Coonoor were cancelled, official sources said.  A holiday had been declared for schools and educational institutions for two days from today.  The restoration works were on a warfooting.

UDHAGAMANDALAM, JULY 26:  Nearly 150 villages were cut off from the Ooty—Manjur road as a big eucalyptus tree fell across the ghat road and railway track near Lovedale as incessant rains continued to throw normal life out of gear in the Nilgiris District.  Two trains running between Udhagamandalam and Coonoor were cancelled, official sources said.  A holiday had been declared for schools and educational institutions for two days from today.  The restoration works were on a warfooting.

UDHAGAMANDALAM, JULY 26:  Nearly 150 villages were cut off from the Ooty—Manjur road as a big eucalyptus tree fell across the ghat road and railway track near Lovedale as incessant rains continued to throw normal life out of gear in the Nilgiris District.  Two trains running between Udhagamandalam and Coonoor were cancelled, official sources said.  A holiday had been declared for schools and educational institutions for two days from today.  The restoration works were on a warfooting.