ProUI

Former Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said he became a "victim of a conspiracy hatched by the rail bureaucracy" when he detected anomalies in procedures for railway appointments."I became a victim of a conspiracy hatched by the rail bureaucracy," former union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said on Wednesday."There were several discrepancies in procedures relating to senior-level appointments in the railways, which I had set out to reform. However, I was myself sucked into the vortex of this conspiracy," Bansal said in an exclusive interview.Bansal - named as a prosecution witness by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the cash-for-promotion scam involving his nephew Vijay Singla and former railway board member Mahesh Kumar - also countered former board chairman Vinay Mittal's statement to the CBI that he had paid no need to repeated suggestions by him (Mittal) to start the process for appointing a general manager for the Western Railways (the post vacated by Mahesh Kumar).

"The file relating to Kumar's appointment as member (staff) was approved and signed by me on April 18 and forwarded for ACC (Appointments Committee of Cabinet) approval the same day. Following the receipt of the ACC approval on May 1, Kumar took charge on May 2. The next day, the CBI raids happened."

So, where was the time for Mittal to "repeatedly" remind me about the need to fill the post of GM, Western Railways," Bansal asked.

"Another officer could not have been appointed GM before his (Kumar's) appointment as member (staff)," the former minister pointed out, adding that "no specific orders had been issued by him to enable Kumar to 'look after' the charge as GM, Western Railways."

"I do not know why Mittal is saying this. This is completely untrue," Bansal said.

The Member of Parliament from Chandigarh said there were sections that had been persuading him to nominate a sitting board member for the railway board chairman's job.

"But I thank my stars for not having succumbed to such influences," he said.

"The selection process of top-level appointments had seemed faulty. The rightful claims of several senior and competent officers such as Rajeev Bhargava and Abhay Khanna have been sidestepped," said Bansal.

"I had trying to rectify this situation, but failed," the former railway minister added.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is moving towards the final stages of the monorail project as it begins tests for safety certification.

It has asked citizens not to venture into the area between GTB Nagar monorail station and Wadala monorail, as well as near the Wadala depot belt, where tests are being conducted.

Dilip Kawathkar, joint project director, MMRDA, said the entire process was being conducted as a safety measure.

“We are appealing to people not to venture near these spots. These tests are a process towards securing the safety certificate required to commission the monorail,” he said.

“Others tests for signalling, communications, rolling stocks and auto fare collection are being conducted simultaneously,” he added.

MMRDA officials said unlike metro services, which need clearance from the commissioner of railway safety (CRS), an international independent agency would be issuing the safety certificate for monorail operations.

The Singapore-based SMRT agency has been appointed as the independent assessor for testing and commissioning of the corridor.

On Wednesday, the conductor rails fitted on the monorail concrete guideway beams between GTB Nagar monorail station, Wadala monorail station and Wadala depot were energised as part of the test.

While the 8.8-km Chembur Wadala line will be open to the public by September, the second phase — the 12.2km WadalaJacob Circle stretch — seems to have hit several hurdles.

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd Managing Director NVS Reddy on Tuesday refuted the reports appearing in a section of the media that the alignment of Metro corridor-III (Nagole-Shilparamam) has been changed at Life Style-White House buildings with a sharp curve to spare CM’s Camp Office.

Reddy said that the alignment of Metro Rail corridor-III has not been changed as being alleged. The statement that the curvature of corridor-III has been reduced to 110 metres radius which is less than the mandatory requirement of 120 metres radius and as a result Metro trains will be slowed down is baseless. The lowest curvature adopted at any location on all the three Metro Rail corridors is 128 metres which is more than the lowest permissible curvature of 120 metres. The curve at Life Style- White House-Greenlands turning is also of 128 metres radius, he said.

The HMR MD stated that despite several constraints of the rail geometrics in terms of curvature, gradient (upward or downward incline) and accommodating Begumpet Metro station structure in the limited space between Country Club and Begumpet flyover in order to give connectivity to Begumpet railway station, the Metro alignment experts have done a good job in minimising the land acquisition requirements in this narrow stretch. Mostly open land in front of Varun Motors, Country Club, Life Style and White House buildings is being used to accommodate the Metro viaduct and Begumpet Metro station, he added.

Allaying the apprehension that major chunks of these buildings are getting demolished, Reddy has clarified that engineering solutions have been refined several times even after the issue of Land Acquisition notices and as a result the Metro right of way requirement has been drastically reduced. Other than the affected front open spaces, only a small corner portion of 3 sq.metres of Varun Motors 1st building; 41 sq.metres of Varun Motors 2nd building; 95 sq.metres of Country Club building and 25 sq.metres of the front portion of White House building are now getting affected. Life Style building is not being touched at all as the viaduct could be accommodated in the front open space of the building and only the open space is getting affected.

Reddy has also clarified that CM’s Camp Office is in no way connected with the alignment of Metro Rail as it is far away from the Metro corridor and the allegation that the alignment has been changed to spare CM’s Camp Office is false and baseless. The fact that the alignment is taking right turn at Greenland Jn towards Ameerpet Jn via Green Park Hotel road has been in public domain for the last many years, he told.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday announced that a 29.5-km Metro rail route will come up between Boraki and Noida City Centre to link Noida and Greater Noida.

Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani said the new Metro route has been necessitated to decongest the city roads, increase connectivity and smoothen traffic. Work on the proposed line was likely to be completed by 2017, he said.

He also said that a total of Rs.5,000 crore would be spent on the ambitious Metro rail link.

Holding a meeting of officials of the departments concerned, the chief secretary said the project would be developed on the lines of the proposed Metro projects in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, West Bengal and Kerala.

Principal Secretary (Industrial Development) Surya Pratap Singh said that due to some reasons, the Metro line between Noida and Greater Noida is not possible as an extension of the projects undertaken by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

As a result of this, a decision was taken at the 179th board meeting of the Noida Authority, held May 27 that a company be formed for the work, he said

Former Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said he became a "victim of a conspiracy hatched by the rail bureaucracy" when he detected anomalies in procedures for railway appointments."I became a victim of a conspiracy hatched by the rail bureaucracy," former union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said on Wednesday."There were several discrepancies in procedures relating to senior-level appointments in the railways, which I had set out to reform. However, I was myself sucked into the vortex of this conspiracy," Bansal said in an exclusive interview.Bansal - named as a prosecution witness by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the cash-for-promotion scam involving his nephew Vijay Singla and former railway board member Mahesh Kumar - also countered former board chairman Vinay Mittal's statement to the CBI that he had paid no need to repeated suggestions by him (Mittal) to start the process for appointing a general manager for the Western Railways (the post vacated by Mahesh Kumar).

"The file relating to Kumar's appointment as member (staff) was approved and signed by me on April 18 and forwarded for ACC (Appointments Committee of Cabinet) approval the same day. Following the receipt of the ACC approval on May 1, Kumar took charge on May 2. The next day, the CBI raids happened."

So, where was the time for Mittal to "repeatedly" remind me about the need to fill the post of GM, Western Railways," Bansal asked.

"Another officer could not have been appointed GM before his (Kumar's) appointment as member (staff)," the former minister pointed out, adding that "no specific orders had been issued by him to enable Kumar to 'look after' the charge as GM, Western Railways."

"I do not know why Mittal is saying this. This is completely untrue," Bansal said.

The Member of Parliament from Chandigarh said there were sections that had been persuading him to nominate a sitting board member for the railway board chairman's job.

"But I thank my stars for not having succumbed to such influences," he said.

"The selection process of top-level appointments had seemed faulty. The rightful claims of several senior and competent officers such as Rajeev Bhargava and Abhay Khanna have been sidestepped," said Bansal.

"I had trying to rectify this situation, but failed," the former railway minister added.

निसं, दारौंदा (सिवान) :मानव रहित रेल फाटक पर कई हादसे हो चुके हैं। पर रेलवे ने इस ओर कारगर कदम नहीं उठाया है। धनौती रेल फाटक का यही हाल है। यहां भी हादसे हो चुके हैं। रेलवे ने यहां जांच करायी एवं जांच के उपरांत वहां रेल फाटक लगवा दिया। परंतु कार्य पूरा होने के बावजूद रेलवे कर्मचारी की नियुक्ति नहीं होने के कारण अभी भी यह मानव रहित फाटक बना हुआ है जिसके कारण कभी भी कोई बड़ी दुर्घटना होने की आशंका बनी हुई है। रेलवे फाटक के एक दूसरी ओर शेरपुर प्राथमिक विद्यालय जहां प्रतिदिन शेरपुर, धनौती, हड़सर, धानाडीह, मछौती आदि दर्जनों गांव के हजारों व्यक्ति एवं सैकड़ों वाहन प्रतिदिन मानव रहित फाटक को अपनी जान जोखिम में डालकर बड़ी सावधानी से पार करते हैं। इसके बावजूद अब तक कई बड़ी दुर्घटना का गवाह बना है मानव रहित फाटक। जिसमें कई लोगों की जानें जा चुकी हैं। जब तक यहां मानव रहित फाटक पर कर्मचारी की नियुक्ति नहीं होगी तब तक न जाने इस मानव रहित फाटक पर कभी भी कोई बड़ी दुर्घटना होने का भय ग्रामीणों को सता रहा है। स्थानीय पूर्व जिला पार्षद जनार्दन सिंह, मनीष सिंह, संजय सिंह, नीतू कुमारी, रितु कुमारी आदि ग्रामीणों का कहना है कि रेलवे जिस तत्परता से रेलवे फाटक लगाने की सारी प्रक्रिया पूरी कर ली है और एक रेल कर्मी के इंतजार में अभी भी दुर्घटना हो सकती है। ग्रामीणों ने रेलवे को पत्र लिखकर कर्मचारी की नियुक्ति रेलवे फाटक पर करने की मांग की है।

CHENNAI: After media outcry and public resentment over Southern Railway's proposed move to raze the Royapuram railway station, a public interest petition against the move has been filed in the Madras high court. A division bench before which the PIL filed by advocate S Sathya Chandran came up for admission issued notices to the CMDA and Southern Railway. It adjourned the matter to two weeks for further hearing.

In his petition, Sathya Chandran relied on media reports dated June 22, claiming that Southern Railway had approached the state Heritage Conservation Committee, requesting the latter's permission for removal of the Royapuram railway state from the list of heritage buildings so as to enable them to undertake 'development projects' at the site.

The advocate said that though small, the Royapuram station building was of historic importance as it was the oldest in the entire Indian sub-continent. The petitioner added that in a list prepared by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority the Royapuram station has been described as grade-1 heritage structure.

He wanted the court to restrain the railway and CMDA from demolishing the structure.

समस्तीपुर-दौरा मधेपुरा रेलखंड में शाम में यात्रा करने में अब मुश्किल नहीं होगी। रेल प्रशासन ने इस रेलखंड पर नयी रेलगाड़ी परिचालन की स्वीकृति प्रदान कर दी है। शुक्रवार को इस नयी रेल गाड़ी को हरी झंडी दिखाकर लोकार्पित किया जाएगा। यह जानकारी देते हुए वरिष्ठ मंडल परिचालन प्रबंधक दिलीप कुमार ने बताया कि यह नयी रेलगाड़ी 55534 8.30 बजे समस्तीपुर से खुलेगी, जो 2.15 बजे मधेपुरा पहुंचेगी। देसुआ-8.40, 8.50 बजे अंगारघाट, 9 बजे नरहन, 9.10 बजे रोसड़ा, 9.25 बजे नयानगर, 9.45 बजे हसनपुर, 10 बजे गढ़पुरा, 10 .23 बजे सलोना, 11 बजे खगड़िया, 1.10 बजे सहरसा होते हुए 2.15 बजे मधेपुरा पहुंचेगी। वहीं 55533 मधेपुरा से 6.05 बजे सुबह में खुलेगी जो समस्तीपुर 12 बजे पहुंचेगी। मालूम हो इस खंड पर शाम में चलने के लिए पूर्व से कोई ट्रेन नहीं था। इसको लेकर कई बार लोगों ने आंदोलन किया था। स्थानीय सांसद महेश्वर हजारी ने भी इस खंड पर ट्रेन परिचालन को लेकर रेलवे बोर्ड एवं महाप्रबंधक को भी पत्र लिखा था। इसके बाद इसकी महाप्रबंधक ने इसकी स्वीकृति प्रदान कर दी है। शुक्रवार को इसे हरी झंडी दिखाकर विदा किया जाएगा।

इनसेट

दरभंगा-न्यूजलपाईगुड़ी का विस्तार सीतामढ़ी तक

समस्तीपुर, काप्र : 15723 दरभंगा-न्यूजलपाईगुड़ी एक्सप्रेस अब दरभंगा की बजाय सीतामढ़ी से खुलेगी। गुरुवार को इसका शुभारंभ कर दिया जाएगा। वरिष्ठ मंडल वाणिज्य प्रबंधक ने यह जानकारी देते हुए कहा कि सीतामढ़ी में इसका शुभारंभ सांसद अर्जून राय एवं मंडल रेल प्रबंधक अरुण मलिक संयुक्त रूप से करेंगे।

CHENNAI: After media outcry and public resentment over Southern Railway's proposed move to raze the Royapuram railway station, a public interest petition against the move has been filed in the Madras high court. A division bench before which the PIL filed by advocate S Sathya Chandran came up for admission issued notices to the CMDA and Southern Railway. It adjourned the matter to two weeks for further hearing.

In his petition, Sathya Chandran relied on media reports dated June 22, claiming that Southern Railway had approached the state Heritage Conservation Committee, requesting the latter's permission for removal of the Royapuram railway state from the list of heritage buildings so as to enable them to undertake 'development projects' at the site.

The advocate said that though small, the Royapuram station building was of historic importance as it was the oldest in the entire Indian sub-continent. The petitioner added that in a list prepared by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority the Royapuram station has been described as grade-1 heritage structure.

He wanted the court to restrain the railway and CMDA from demolishing the structure.

मुजफ्फरपुर-नरकटियागंज रेल खंड के विभिन्न स्टेशनों पर तैनात आधा दर्जन रेल कर्मियों का तबादला कर दिया गया है। समस्तीपुर मंडल कार्यालय से मिली जानकारी के मुताबिक यह तबादला वरीय मंडल परिचालन प्रबंधक दिलीप कुमार के स्तर से हुआ है। कार्यालय सूत्रों के अनुसार पीपरा के स्टेशन अधीक्षक देवानंद को कांटी का स्टेशन अधीक्षक, बेतिया के स्टेशन अधीक्षक विद्याकिशोर प्रसाद को सुगौली, सेमरा के स्टेशन अधीक्षक विनय कुमार श्रीवास्तव को पीपरा का स्टेशन अधीक्षक बनाया गया है। बापूधाम मोतिहारी के श्याम कुमार को सुगौली का स्टेशन मास्टर बनाया गया है।