ProUI

Alappuzha: Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, K.C.Venugopal said that all rail level crossings passing through the Alappuzha Parliamentary constituency would be manned soon.Talking to reporters here on Saturday, after chairing a meeting of railway authorities, Venugopal said that 101level crossings out of a total of 103 in the constituency had already been manned.“There are only two left and that too will be manned shortly. Underpasses will be constructed at ten level crossings. When that happens this will turn into a constituency with fully manned rail level crossings,” he said.Venugopal said that steps for acquiring the land for the rail wagon factory promised in the 2011 Union Railway budget would begin soon. The Railway authorities would hand over the letter related to land acquisition on Monday. “Land acquisition will begin urgently,” he said.

The Minister said that the State PWD officials told the meeting that the approach road to Alappuzha railway station at a cost of Rs 23 lakh and the one to Ambalappuzha railway station at a cost of Rs 13 lakh had been completed.The works of approach roads at a cost of Rs 18 lakh for Kayamkulam, Rs 25 lakh for Thuravoor and Rs 19 lakh for Karunagappally had started. The VIP lounge works at Alappuzha station had been completed, he added.

Of the works for the doubling of the railway line from Harippad to Ambalappuzha, and the modernisation of the Ambalappuzha railway station would be taken up initially. The Railway authorities in the State had sought more funds for platform extension in Ambalappuzha railway station.

The Minister said that the Railways had come up with the drawings of the Rail Over Bridge (ROB) in Ezhuppunna and similar works for the ROB at Krishnapuram would begin soon. The tender processes had been completed for the works of setting up escalators at Alappuzha Railway Station. “The works will start in two weeks,” he said.

The Minister instructed officials to look into providing a roof for the platforms at Kayamkulam railway station and the difficulties that passengers undergo because of only one platform at Ambalappuzha.

Railway Thiruvananthapuram Division Railway Manager, Rajesh Agrawal, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Denni Thomas, District collector, N.Padmakumar and Additional Divisional Magistrate (ADM), K.P. Thampy were also present at the meeting.

Alappuzha: Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, K.C.Venugopal said that all rail level crossings passing through the Alappuzha Parliamentary constituency would be manned soon.Talking to reporters here on Saturday, after chairing a meeting of railway authorities, Venugopal said that 101level crossings out of a total of 103 in the constituency had already been manned.“There are only two left and that too will be manned shortly. Underpasses will be constructed at ten level crossings. When that happens this will turn into a constituency with fully manned rail level crossings,” he said.Venugopal said that steps for acquiring the land for the rail wagon factory promised in the 2011 Union Railway budget would begin soon. The Railway authorities would hand over the letter related to land acquisition on Monday. “Land acquisition will begin urgently,” he said.

The Minister said that the State PWD officials told the meeting that the approach road to Alappuzha railway station at a cost of Rs 23 lakh and the one to Ambalappuzha railway station at a cost of Rs 13 lakh had been completed.The works of approach roads at a cost of Rs 18 lakh for Kayamkulam, Rs 25 lakh for Thuravoor and Rs 19 lakh for Karunagappally had started. The VIP lounge works at Alappuzha station had been completed, he added.

Of the works for the doubling of the railway line from Harippad to Ambalappuzha, and the modernisation of the Ambalappuzha railway station would be taken up initially. The Railway authorities in the State had sought more funds for platform extension in Ambalappuzha railway station.

The Minister said that the Railways had come up with the drawings of the Rail Over Bridge (ROB) in Ezhuppunna and similar works for the ROB at Krishnapuram would begin soon. The tender processes had been completed for the works of setting up escalators at Alappuzha Railway Station. “The works will start in two weeks,” he said.

The Minister instructed officials to look into providing a roof for the platforms at Kayamkulam railway station and the difficulties that passengers undergo because of only one platform at Ambalappuzha.

Railway Thiruvananthapuram Division Railway Manager, Rajesh Agrawal, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Denni Thomas, District collector, N.Padmakumar and Additional Divisional Magistrate (ADM), K.P. Thampy were also present at the meeting.

NEW DELHI: A heavy downpour caused flooding and brought parts of the capital to a virtual standstill for hours Saturday as several roads got submerged under rain water, stranding vehicles. A Metro station was shut due to rain water on the platform.

The capital received 105 mm of rain from 11.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., one of the heaviest in the last 10 years, according to the Met office. The rain exposed the poor drainage system of the city and the arrangements made by civic agencies. 

Massive traffic jams were reported from across the city and the worst affected was central Delhi. The combination of waterlogged roads, uprooted trees and broken down vehicles resulted in chaos on roads.

Entire road stretches in central Delhi around India Gate, commercial hub Connaught Place and ITO, which houses several government offices, were completely choked with vehciles.

"I am stuck near Pragati Maidan for the last three hours and I have just moved a few feet I had to wade through a pool of water at least four feet deep," said motorist Rajiv Rathi, an IT professional on his way to Noida from India Gate.

Dipankar Mukherjee, a commuter stuck near ITO, said: "I have never seen such heavy rains for as long as I can remember...the situation is maddening."

Traffic jams were also reported from south Delhi's Okhla Industrial area, Chittaranjan Park, Kalkaji, Sainik Farms, Saket, west Delhi's Patel Nagar, Kirti Nagar, Mayapuri, Raja Garden, north Delhi's Shalimar Bagh and Model Town and east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar and Krishna Nagar.

Officials of civic corporations could be seen wading through waist deep water near Pragati Maidan as they tried to open a clogged drains of the underpass.

Several bus and autorickshaw passengers who were stuck in the jam for hours got down and walked through knee deep water while getting drenched in the rain to get to the other side of the road.

The Delhi Metro service remained largely unaffected but its Malviya Nagar station was shut down for over an hour due to flooding resulting from rain water seeping through the roof of the underground facility.

"There was flooding in some parts of the Metro station because of which we had to shut it down but the trains are operating normally," said an official of Delhi Metro.

Northern Railway services were hit as 13 trains which were to pass through Delhi got delayed due to flooding at some stations.

Air traffic remained largely unaffected.

"Despite heavy rain at the airport all passenger facilities at the airport remain completely unaffected including the baggage belts. All flight operations are fully normal at the moment except one flight which was diverted and four flights had to go around for a few minutes," said an official of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor tweeted: "New Delhi reeling under monsoon flooding. Cars stuck on roads. Every surface drips. My home has had a crippling power blackout since 1.45 p.m."

The private power distribution companies, which cater to areas other than the central parts housing MPs, said there were no major power cuts due to rain.

As heavy showers continued to lash Maharashtra for the second day since Friday, the ballast and bank under the railway track and a small bridge, were washed out completely between Sindi and Tuljapur station on Nagpur-Wardha section. The incident resulted in operational problems for long-distance trains, with at least a dozen of them either being cancelled or diverted. Due to disruption in services, Central Railway has launched the restoration work on a war footing. According to information obtained from Central Railway headquarters, the divisional railway manager, along with senior railway officials from Nagpur division have reached the site and are supervising the restoration work. Due to continuous and heavy rains, traffic on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway was also hit. Friday and Saturday were tough days for commuters on the route as the traffic moved at a snail’s pace in the ghat section. According to Mukund Dhus, public relation officer of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), “Our buses saw a fall of around 10 per cent in passengers.” The ghat section of the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, particularly Lonavala and Khandala, witnessed heavy rains, forcing motorists to travel at slow speed to avoid mishaps.

Chandigarh:
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has started replacing the old batteries installed on the seven coaches of the Bharat Darshan special train. Many passengers had recently faced a lot of inconvenience due to power outages during their journey to Shirdi. The Chandigarh Tribune in its report, "Pilgrims feel harassed", carried in these columns on July 19 had highlighted inconvenience caused to the pilgrims due to power outages and unhygienic conditions.The Chief Regional Manager of the IRCTC, RK Sondh, said the team had commenced the work of replacing or repairing the old batteries in all the coaches of the Bharat Darshan train, which would proceed on a six-days tour of Udhayan the next day. Two more coaches have been added to the train to accommodate around 150 more passengers.He said two more officials had been deputed on the coaches to see to it passengers were not harassed in any way. In fact, the instructions have also been issued to the food contractor to ensure its quality. The authorities have also deployed staff to daily clean the washrooms on the coaches.During their six-day journey to Shirdi from July 13 to 18, the passengers had alleged that no coach of the train had electricity supply whenever the train halted at a destination. Besides, the washrooms in all the coaches were not cleaned and the food served to the pilgrims at Shirdi was not hot.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired a meeting on the progress of infrastructure development in the north-eastern region.Among those present at the meeting were finance minister, civil aviation minister, railway minister, minister for road transport and highways, telecom minister, minister for power, minister for DONER and the deputy chairman of the planning commission.Railway, road, airport, power and telecom projects in the region were reviewed in the meeting. The focus was to speed up implementation of ongoing projects and also to ensure electronic connectivity. The deputy chairman of the planning commission reported that eight states of the region grew at 9.95 percent during the XI plan period, well above the national average of 8 percent. The finance ministry would give an additional ₹400 crore for the completion of the three critical railway projects in the north-east by March 2014.The three projects are the Harmati-Naharlagun project to provide the first rail connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh, the Dudhnoi-Mendipathar project to connect Meghalaya, and the Rangapara-North Lakhimpur project. 

The railway ministry committed that the first trial runs will begin on these lines in January 2014. The finance ministry will also provide up to ₹200 crore for two more projects i.e. the Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion and the Bogibeel Bridge. Also, additional funds from the NLCPR would be provided for Intra-State Transmission line networks in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim

An Empowered Committee will be set up to monitor progress on all infrastructure projects in the region. 

The prime minister also directed the Planning Commission to call a meeting of all the chief ministers of the north-eastern states to improve inter-state coordination for speedy completion of the infrastructure projects.

मुंबई

सेंट्रल रेलवे ने मुंबई डिविजन के 'सी' कैटिगरी स्टेशनों पर सभी बुक स्टॉल्स मालिकों को वर्ष 2006-07 से लेकर अब तक आउटस्टैंडिंग पेमेंट एक साथ भुगतान करने का नोटिस देकर स्टॉल्स पर ताला जड़ दिया। रेलवे के इस कदम के बाद तकरीबन 20 बुक स्टॉल्स वालों के सामने रोजी-रोटी का सवाल पैदा हो गया है। रेलवे बोर्ड की पॉलिसी के अनुसार इन वेंडर्स को 10 हजार रुपये प्रति वर्ष लाइसेंस फी और सालाना बिक्री का 12 प्रतिशत रेलवे को देना होता है। इन वेंडर्स से अब तक लाइसेंस फी तो वसूली गई, लेकिन पिछले 6 सालों से सालाना बिक्री का 12 प्रतिशत फी नहीं वसूली गई। अब अचानक सेंट्रल रेलवे द्वारा नोटिस जारी कर वेंडर्स को 15 दिनों में पूरी रकम भुगतान करने की शर्त रखी गई है, अन्यथा लाइसेंस रद्द करने का हवाला दिया गया है।

आपसी लड़ाई में फंस गया वेंडर

स्टेशनों पर स्टॉल चलाने का अधिकार इतने साल आईआरसीटीसी के पास था। अगस्त, 2012 में रेलवे को फिर से स्टॉल्स के संबंध में सारे निर्णय लेने के अधिकार सौंप दिए गए। रेलवे का कहना है कि 2006-07 में रेलवे पॉलिसी के बदलाव के बाद आईआरसीटीसी ने इन वेंडर्स से लाइसेंस फी तो वसूली, जबकि सालाना बिक्री का 12 प्रतिशत नहीं लिया। बुक स्टॉल्स कंट्रैक्टर्स असोसिएशन का कहना है कि ये सारी लड़ाई रेलवे और आईआरसीटीसी की थी, ऐसे में उन पर गाज क्यों गिराई जा रही है। सालाना बिक्री का 12 प्रतिशत नहीं वसूलना रेलवे और आईआरसीटीसी की गलती है।

रेलवे का कहना है

'जितने स्टॉल्स को नोटिस दिया गया था, उनमें से कुछ ने पेमेंट कर दी है। रेलवे अपनी तरफ से इस मुद्दे को जल्द से जल्द सुलझाने का भरोसा दिलाती है। वेंडर्स को पार्शियल पेमेंट करने की शर्त पर स्टॉल खोलने की इजाजत दी जा सकती है।'

भागलपुर सुपर एक्सप्रेस से पहले सोमवार से 5398/95 न्यू पैसेंजर ट्रेन चलेगी. रेलवे प्रबंधक ओमकार प्रसाद ने बताया कि ट्रेन जमालपुर-भागलपुर के बीच चलेगी. इस ट्रेन का भागलपुर आने के समय रात 9.05 बजे व खुलने का समय रात 9.25 बजे है.

NEW DELHI: A heavy downpour caused flooding and brought parts of the capital to a virtual standstill for hours Saturday as several roads got submerged under rain water, stranding vehicles. A Metro station was shut due to rain water on the platform.

The capital received 105 mm of rain from 11.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., one of the heaviest in the last 10 years, according to the Met office. The rain exposed the poor drainage system of the city and the arrangements made by civic agencies. 

Massive traffic jams were reported from across the city and the worst affected was central Delhi. The combination of waterlogged roads, uprooted trees and broken down vehicles resulted in chaos on roads.

Entire road stretches in central Delhi around India Gate, commercial hub Connaught Place and ITO, which houses several government offices, were completely choked with vehciles.

"I am stuck near Pragati Maidan for the last three hours and I have just moved a few feet I had to wade through a pool of water at least four feet deep," said motorist Rajiv Rathi, an IT professional on his way to Noida from India Gate.

Dipankar Mukherjee, a commuter stuck near ITO, said: "I have never seen such heavy rains for as long as I can remember...the situation is maddening."

Traffic jams were also reported from south Delhi's Okhla Industrial area, Chittaranjan Park, Kalkaji, Sainik Farms, Saket, west Delhi's Patel Nagar, Kirti Nagar, Mayapuri, Raja Garden, north Delhi's Shalimar Bagh and Model Town and east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar and Krishna Nagar.

Officials of civic corporations could be seen wading through waist deep water near Pragati Maidan as they tried to open a clogged drains of the underpass.

Several bus and autorickshaw passengers who were stuck in the jam for hours got down and walked through knee deep water while getting drenched in the rain to get to the other side of the road.

The Delhi Metro service remained largely unaffected but its Malviya Nagar station was shut down for over an hour due to flooding resulting from rain water seeping through the roof of the underground facility.

"There was flooding in some parts of the Metro station because of which we had to shut it down but the trains are operating normally," said an official of Delhi Metro.

Northern Railway services were hit as 13 trains which were to pass through Delhi got delayed due to flooding at some stations.

Air traffic remained largely unaffected.

"Despite heavy rain at the airport all passenger facilities at the airport remain completely unaffected including the baggage belts. All flight operations are fully normal at the moment except one flight which was diverted and four flights had to go around for a few minutes," said an official of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor tweeted: "New Delhi reeling under monsoon flooding. Cars stuck on roads. Every surface drips. My home has had a crippling power blackout since 1.45 p.m."

The private power distribution companies, which cater to areas other than the central parts housing MPs, said there were no major power cuts due to rain.

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