ProUI

Dhubri, July 17: Resentment is growing among the people of Dhubri as work on the new railway track between Gauripur and Jogighopa remains stalled owing to non-sanction of funds by the railway ministry.

Part of the project — from New Cooch Behar to Dhubri — was completed in 2011 but the rest of the work — from Gauripur to Jogighopa — is taking forever to complete, said the New Moinaguri-Jogighopa Railway Demand Committee.

The joint convener of the committee, Tazmul Haque, told RailNews that the Union railway ministry had sanctioned Rs 887 crore for the project in its 2000-2001 budget.

“It has been 12 years now but project still remains incomplete though the budget has already crossed Rs 1,000 crore. When we sent our last deputation to then Union railway minister Dinesh Trivedi in 2011, we were assured that funds would flow till the project was completed,” Haque said.

The deadline for completion of the project is 2014 but allotted funds have been exhausted and work is stalled, Haque said.

The railway ministry should release the requisite fund immediately on the priority basis in the greater public interest of this part of Assam and complete it without any further delay or else demand committee would be compelled to announce agitation programmes, Haque warned.

The general manager of NF Railway (Maligaon), R.S. Virdi, reiterated that work was not progressing for lack of funds. “After reallocation of funds, work will be started,” Virdi said.

In another development, the Bashbari unit of Absu is unhappy with the route change of the Rajya Rani Express that runs between Dhubri and Silghat thrice a week. “The train used to run between Dhubri and Bongaigaon on gap days. But now, the train is running between Dhubri and Alipur since yesterday,” said Absu unit secretary Sandip Kumar Brahma.

Unit president Bijoy Kumar Brahma said this train had developed the rail communication between Dhubri and Bongaigaon and benefited the people of Basbari.

“This train should be again brought back to its earlier route and the route of the Chilarai passenger train should be brought up to Dhubri. This train currently runs between New Bongaigaon and Guwahati, so this train could easily be extended to Dhubri, ” Brahma said.

The inaugural meeting of 6thZonal Rail Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) was held o­n Friday 19thJuly 2013 at Rail Sadan, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar under the Chairmanship of Shri Indra Ghosh, General Manager, East Coast Railway. Many distinguished members of ZRUCC including Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly, representatives of different Chambers of Commerce & Industry and representatives of Passenger Associations attended this meeting.

      In his introductory speech Shri Ghosh highlighted the achievements of East Coast Railway and informed about the improvements in freight and passenger transportation services in the current financial year. Issues related to Passenger Amenities & services, public demands and other developmental activities were discussed during the meeting.

      Amongst others, members of the Committee Shri Bibhu Prasad Tarai, Member of Parliament (Jagatsinghpur), Dr. B. Jhansi Lakshmi, Member of Parliament (Vizianagaram), Smt. Renubala Pradhan, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) , Shri Praveen Chandra Bhanj Deo, MLA, Odisha Legislative Assembly and representatives from Passengers Associations, Chambers of Commerce and Industries and representatives of the physically challenged sections attended the meeting.

      All heads of the Departments of East Coast Railway were present in the meeting. All the members of ZRUCC actively participated in the meeting and presented their valuable opinions and suggestions. Shri Subrat Tripathy, Senior DGM, welcomed and introduced all the guests and Shri S.K.Purohit, Secretary, ZRUCC and Dy. General Manager, ECoR co-ordinated the meeting.

Chennai: It all started in December 2012, when a medical student was raped and murdered in a moving bus in Delhi. Since then, RPF has adopted a “no compromise” policy in monitoring women travellers’ safety aboard trains.

Special drives became regular and crackdown on male passengers illegally travelling in women’s coaches was intensified after the Delhi tragedy, admitted a senior RPF officer.

“The Delhi incident shook the whole country. We did not want any such incident reported in one of our trains. That was the trigger for the enforcement drives conducted since Dece­mber 2012,” a RPF inspector told DC.

No rule permits men to board women’s coaches, be it EMU or Express, after 9pm, emphasized senior divisional security commissioner S. R. Gandhi. Since January last, an understaffed RPF has ensured that each station conducted two surprise checks twice a week.

During the last one-week alone, 100 men were booked and fined for travelling in women’s coaches in EMUs between Nunga­mbakkam and Chro­mepet alone. Spouses and family members accompanying women passengers were being let off with a warning now.

Many women insist that one of their family members or friends be allowed to travel with them late evening. “Very few women travel late night. Will it be safe for office goers like me to travel alone in women’s coaches late?,” argued BPO employee Farzana Begum, a regular commuter between Tara­mani and Beach. 

Even  for the few minutes that the train halts at stations are unsafe and enough for window chain-snatchers  to target women in women’s coaches, complained stenographer Lavanya Chandrasekhar of Na­ng­­a­nallur, urging RPF to strengthen security. 

Complaints about drunk men harassing women passengers and frequent chain-snatching incidents had only dissuaded the personnel to get stringent on men boarding women’s coaches, RPF personnel justified.

State-run BEML  Ltd today said it has bagged a new order worth of Rs 747 crore from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited  (DMRCL). The order is for manufacture and supply of 92 sets of standard gauge metro cars for the phase III, RS-9 project of DMRCL, the Bangalore based company said in a release.This order will boost the present order book position of BEML to Rs 6,400 crore, it added. The company said that in addition to this, order for manufacture and supply of standard gauge driverless metro cars for MRTS Phase-III project from DMRC and orders for mainline passenger coaches and stainless steel sub-urban trains are on the anvil.Shares of BEML closed 2.37 per cent up at Rs 172.90 a piece.

Chennai: It all started in December 2012, when a medical student was raped and murdered in a moving bus in Delhi. Since then, RPF has adopted a “no compromise” policy in monitoring women travellers’ safety aboard trains.

Special drives became regular and crackdown on male passengers illegally travelling in women’s coaches was intensified after the Delhi tragedy, admitted a senior RPF officer.

“The Delhi incident shook the whole country. We did not want any such incident reported in one of our trains. That was the trigger for the enforcement drives conducted since Dece­mber 2012,” a RPF inspector told DC.

No rule permits men to board women’s coaches, be it EMU or Express, after 9pm, emphasized senior divisional security commissioner S. R. Gandhi. Since January last, an understaffed RPF has ensured that each station conducted two surprise checks twice a week.

During the last one-week alone, 100 men were booked and fined for travelling in women’s coaches in EMUs between Nunga­mbakkam and Chro­mepet alone. Spouses and family members accompanying women passengers were being let off with a warning now.

Many women insist that one of their family members or friends be allowed to travel with them late evening. “Very few women travel late night. Will it be safe for office goers like me to travel alone in women’s coaches late?,” argued BPO employee Farzana Begum, a regular commuter between Tara­mani and Beach. 

Even  for the few minutes that the train halts at stations are unsafe and enough for window chain-snatchers  to target women in women’s coaches, complained stenographer Lavanya Chandrasekhar of Na­ng­­a­nallur, urging RPF to strengthen security. 

Complaints about drunk men harassing women passengers and frequent chain-snatching incidents had only dissuaded the personnel to get stringent on men boarding women’s coaches, RPF personnel justified.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel deployed at more than 130 stations of Delhi Metro have helped return a large number of valuables, costly electronic gadgets, cash and jewellery to the rightful owners. From January to 10 July this year, the CISF personnel  deposited Rs 13.5 lakh in cash, Rs 12.35 lakh worth cheques, 64 laptops, 38 cameras, 268 mobile phones, four tablets and 27 gold ornaments. "The CISF personnel deployed at stations managed to detect and locate these items in the metro premises during patrolling, search of station premises or left by passengers in a hurry, in proximity to X ray screening machines," said Mr Hemendra Singh, spokesperson of CISF.CISF has developed a team for handling these lost or unclaimed properties. Once recovered by CISF, these items are handed over to DMRC."DMRC then in turn forwards these unclaimed articles to their lost and found cell at Kashmere Gate where owners can identify and claim them as per procedure which is also updated on DMRC's website of lost and found page," said Mr Singh.On 15 May, CISF personnel at Shastri Park metro station deposited a bag containing Rs 3,80,000 found near X-BIS table which was restored to its owner.

पटना से दिल्ली जाने वाली राजधानी एक्सप्रेस पर आरा रेलवे स्टेशन के पास उत्तेजित लोगों ने पथराव किया और उसकी कई बोगियों के शीशे तोड़ दिये। आरा-सासाराम सवारी गाड़ी पर हमले के बाद ट्रेन का ड्राइवर भाग गया। पुलिस पर लोगों ने पथराव किये। इसमें आधा दर्जन आरपीएफ और जीआरपी के जवान घायल हो गये। उन्होंने करीब 40 राउंड फायरिंग की।

इस घटना की शुरुआत तब हुई जब दिल्ली से पटना आने वाली जन साधारण एक्सप्रेस से एक पटना सिटी का रहने वाला दीना नामक युवक ट्रेन से गिर गया। यह घटना के आरा के पश्चिमी रेलवे फाटक के पास हुई। कल उसी जगह पर एक यात्री के ट्रेन से गिरकर मौत हो गयी थी।


स्थानीय लोग आज शाम में ट्रेन से दीना के गिरने की घटना के बाद वहां जमा हो गये। वे इसके लिए रेल प्रशासन को जिम्मेदार ठहरा रहे थे। वहां आसपास के लोगों की भीड़ जुटती गयी। लोगों की तादाद बढऩे के बाद वे आरा रेलवे स्टेशन की ओर कूच कर गये। पश्चिमी रेलवे फाटक से स्टेशन की दूर मुश्किल से एक किलोमीटर होगी। उन्होंने स्टेशन पर पहुंचकर आरा-सासाराम सवारी गाड़ी को खुलने से रोक दिया।  यही नहीं, उन्होंने ट्रेन पर पत्थरबाजी  शुरू कर दी। लोगों के गुस्से को देखते हुए ट्रेन का ड्राइवर भाग गया। इसी बीच लोग स्टेशन पर उपद्रव मचाते रहे।


जीआरपी और आरपीएफ के जवानों ने गुस्साए लोगों को रोकने की कोशिश की। मगर उन्होंने सुरक्षाकर्मियों पर ही पथराव शुरू कर दिया। इसमें करीब आधा दर्जन जवान घायल हो गये। उन्हें इलाज के लिए आरा सदर अस्पताल में दाखिल कराया गया है। इसी दौरान पटना से दिल्ली जाने वाली राजधानी एक्सप्रेस पर लोगों ने हमला कर दिया। काफी देर बाद जिला पुलिस बल के वहां पहुंचने के बाद मामला शांत हुआ और राजधानी एक्सप्रेस आगे बढ़ी।

Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) chairman J.B. Koshy has directed the Railways to take measures soon to strengthen the railway over-bridge (RoB) at Nagampadom.The directive was issued when a complaint regarding the RoB was taken up at a sitting of the commission held here on Thursday.The complainant, T.K. Suresh Kumar, an advocate, had stated that the bridge was in a weak condition and that it posed a threat to the commuters. According to him, the two cross beams that connect the arches on either side were poorly maintained and also came in contact with heavy vehicles that ply on the road. Mr. Kumar demanded the removal of the beams and urgent renovation of the bridge.The Public Works Department (PWD) also agreed that the bridge required strengthening and had written to the Railways stating the same.According to officials who had represented the department at the meeting, an inspection had been conducted on June 29 to evaluate the condition of the RoB.However, the railway officials said there were no issues with the bridge and that maintenance activities were being conducted on a regular basis. The cross beams and the bridge were strengthened using three iron girders some months ago, they said.After hearing the views of all the parties, Mr. Koshy pointed out that ensuring the safety of the bridge was the responsibility of the Railways. According to him, the Railways should also be held accountable in the event of any accident. He asked the Railways to take measures to either strengthen or replace the cross-beams at the earliest.

Representing the Divisional Railway Manager of the Thiruvananthapuram division at the meeting, Senior Section Engineer Anil Kumar said that a new bridge would be constructed during the next financial year to replace the existing one at Nagampadom.

All arrangements are being made to construct the new bridge planned to be 14 metres wide, he said.

Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) chairman J.B. Koshy has directed the Railways to take measures soon to strengthen the railway over-bridge (RoB) at Nagampadom.The directive was issued when a complaint regarding the RoB was taken up at a sitting of the commission held here on Thursday.The complainant, T.K. Suresh Kumar, an advocate, had stated that the bridge was in a weak condition and that it posed a threat to the commuters. According to him, the two cross beams that connect the arches on either side were poorly maintained and also came in contact with heavy vehicles that ply on the road. Mr. Kumar demanded the removal of the beams and urgent renovation of the bridge.The Public Works Department (PWD) also agreed that the bridge required strengthening and had written to the Railways stating the same.According to officials who had represented the department at the meeting, an inspection had been conducted on June 29 to evaluate the condition of the RoB.However, the railway officials said there were no issues with the bridge and that maintenance activities were being conducted on a regular basis. The cross beams and the bridge were strengthened using three iron girders some months ago, they said.After hearing the views of all the parties, Mr. Koshy pointed out that ensuring the safety of the bridge was the responsibility of the Railways. According to him, the Railways should also be held accountable in the event of any accident. He asked the Railways to take measures to either strengthen or replace the cross-beams at the earliest.

Representing the Divisional Railway Manager of the Thiruvananthapuram division at the meeting, Senior Section Engineer Anil Kumar said that a new bridge would be constructed during the next financial year to replace the existing one at Nagampadom.

All arrangements are being made to construct the new bridge planned to be 14 metres wide, he said.

The Bangalore-Nagore Passenger will be extended to Karaikal starting from Friday.
The passenger service will be flagged off at 9.45 p.m. on Friday. According to a release, The Bangalore–Karaikal Passenger (daily) (56514) will leave Bangalore at 7.15 a.m. and reach Nagore at 9.48 p.m.. The train will leave Nagore at 9.50 p.m. and reach Karaikal at 10.30 p.m. The Karaikal–Bangalore Passenger (daily) (56513) will leave Karaikal at 3.40 a.m. and reach Bangalore at 7 p.m. — Staff Reporter