ProUI

VARANASI: The huge garbage heaps, overflowing sewage and choked drains is what a person gets to see on the Cantonment railway station premises in monsoon. The poor sanitation on the railway station presents a sorry state of the city regarding cleanliness before the travellers.

And the roads outside the station also show a similar picture with garbage dumped in front of the station and drains choked causing heavy waterlogging on the road.

The area, where gangways have been installed for autorickshaws, were also submereged with sewage water. The passengers moving to the railway station have no other option but to walk through the waterlogged road.

Foul smell of garbage and sewage water has enveloped the environment near the station.

Mangalore MP writes to the Minister listing out demands

With Mallikarjun Kharge taking over as the Railway Minister, the activists and politicians and the traders’ body of the region hope that some of the long-pending proposals of the region would get the Ministry’s attention.

People have been demanding divisional headquarters at Mangalore and bringing it under the South Western Railway Zone (based at Hubli) from the Southern Railway Zone (headquartered at Palakkad); construction of additional platforms at Mangalore Central, implementation of the three-year-old announcement on converting Mangalore into a ‘world-class railway station’, upgrading Mangalore Junction; doubling of Konkan-Railway track and additional fast night passenger between Mangalore and Bangalore.

Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, has already written to Mr. Kharge seeking implementation of many of these demands.

The issues raised by Mr. Kateel also include: making Karwar-Yeshwanthpur a daily train instead thrice a week, better facilities at Subramanya station, arrival of Chervatur-Mangalore Passenger train (No. 56661) in Mangalore Central station at 8.30 a.m.; extension of passenger train to Puttur to Subramanya, doubling of tracks between Mangalore and Subramanya, building second platform and roof at Bantwal Station and development of Kabakaputtur as model station. He has pointed out that some media reports indicated that there were efforts to divert the weekly train between Mangalore and Bangalore announced in 2013-14 to run via Kannur and Selam instead of Arasikere. (Activists allege that Kerala and Tamil Nadu railway lobby was behind such moves).

Mr. Kateel has warned the Minister that any such move would be resisted.

District in-charge Minister Ramanath Rai said he would bring pressure on Mr. Kharge about “several issues” pertaining to the Railways.

West Coast Rail Yathri Development Committee Chairman Hanumanth Kamath hoped that longstanding demands would get attention now that Mr. Kharge has been put in charge of the ministry. He said efforts are on to get in touch with him so that a delegation of activists is taken to either Delhi or meet him during his next visit to the State. Mr. Kamath said action had not been initiated three years after the then Railway Minister announced that Mangalore Central would be made a world-class railway station. Other improvements in the two stations of the city have also been ignored.

G.G. Mohandas Prabhu, who heads the sub-committee of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Railways and represents the chamber in Palakkad Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee, said a memorandum to be submitted to Mr. Kharge is being drafted highlighting various demands.

2.22 pm: Indian railways to carry all stranded passengers free of cost to their destinations

Minister for Information and broadcasting, Manish Tewari, who gave an update on the status of relief operations, said that 90 sorties were conducted today using 17 IAF helicopters and 11 private helicopters in Uttarakhand. He added that the NRDF has recovered 18 dead bodies and said that efforts were being made to ensure the uninterrupted supply of LPG, gas and motor spirits to affected areas.

“Search, rescue and relief operations are being carried out by the Army, IAF, private helipcopters, SSB, ITBP”, he added.

Tewari added that Indian railways had decided that they would carry all stranded passengers free of cost to their destinations.

In terms of telecommunications, Tewari said that 207 towers were down in the areas in the areas of Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi, adding that measures were in place to get them back up online and functional. “Emergency numbers 100, 101, 108 have been made operational”, he said.

VARANASI: The huge garbage heaps, overflowing sewage and choked drains is what a person gets to see on the Cantonment railway station premises in monsoon. The poor sanitation on the railway station presents a sorry state of the city regarding cleanliness before the travellers.

And the roads outside the station also show a similar picture with garbage dumped in front of the station and drains choked causing heavy waterlogging on the road.

The area, where gangways have been installed for autorickshaws, were also submereged with sewage water. The passengers moving to the railway station have no other option but to walk through the waterlogged road.

Foul smell of garbage and sewage water has enveloped the environment near the station.

The 11 km long railway tunnel between Banihal and Qazigund is ready with nearly 200 CCTVs, 25 telephone booths and a number of auto sensors installed in it to ensure a hassle free journey for commuters.

"192 CCTVs, 25 exhaust fans, 25 telephone booths and a number of auto sensors to indicate fire and other troubles have been installed inside the tunnel," IRCON officials constructing the vital Kashmir rail project told PTI ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit on June 25.

Singh, along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other leaders from the Centre and state, is scheduled to be present when the railway tunnel is inaugurated on June 25.

A control room set up at Banihal railway station will monitor all activities inside the tunnel built in the Pir-Panjal range, officials said.

Keeping in mind any eventualities, engineers have also constructed a six metre wide motor road along with the railway track.

"A six metre wide motor road along with railway track has been constructed inside tunnel for rescue and relief operations in case of any emergency," officials said, adding that the high-tech Pir-Panjal Railway tunnel was water and fire proof.

Built at a cost of Rs 1,300 crore by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), the 11.3 km long tunnel will connect Kashmir Valley with the Banihal town of Jammu division and will be India's longest and Asia's second longest railway transport tunnel, officials said.

It has taken seven years to complete the entire project, they added.

वैशाली पतंगे बनीं कोंकण रेलवे की मुख्य जनसंपर्क अधिकारी

नवी मुंबई: कोंकण रेलवे महामंडल ने वैशाली पतंगे को मुख्य जनसंपर्क अधिकारी के पद पर नियुक्त किया है। उनसे पहले सिद्धेश्वर तेलगू इस पद पर थे। तेलुगू को अब कोंकण रेलवे के कार्मिक विभाग के मुख्य अधिकारी पद पर भेजा गया है। वैशाली पतंगे इसके पूर्व यहां साल 1998 से 2009 के दौरान कोंकण रेलवे की जनसंपर्क अधिकारी रह चुकी हैं। उन्होंने कार्यभार संभाल लिया है।

MUMBAI: A day after a motorman of a Churchgate-bound train jumped the red signal at Borivli, Western Railway (WR) personnel said the signal should be shifted.

Western Railway had to cancel 24 services in the wake of Wednesday's incident. The motorman J K Saha was immediately taken off duty and an inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause.

A motorman said, "More than a year ago, the signal on platform 5 was moved from the left side of the track to the right. Motormen are comfortable with signals on the left. In fact, we have complained to the administration about the confusion at Borivli." "A motorman loco inspector, who is on the signal-sighting committee, had refused to approve the location of the signal on the grounds that led to Wednesday incident. If the administration had paid attention to the problem identified by the Mumbai division motorman loco inspector, the signal would not have come at the place," he added.

The signal-sighting panel comprises members from the signal department, traffic department and an inspector from the motorman loco cadre. "The administration, in order to have its way, invited a loco inspector from Valsad to complete the formality of selecting the point. This loco inspector approved the point on the basis mail/express train, whose engine halt a few feet away from this objectionable signal point. For mail/express train the sighting is clear but the problem is acute for those piloting local trains," he claimed.

The motorman said, "The position of the signal on at this location is such at when the train enter Platform No. 5 his sight falls on the signal meant for train on Platform No. 6."

The motorman also said that a repeat signal at the rear end of the train is also provided at Platform No. 5 at Borivali. A motorman on the condition of anonymity said, "The guard should have seen the signal being red aspect and warned the motorman from starting the train. Till 2003, the guard were also liable to observe the repeat signal. This dual-checking system was done away without any logical reasons."

The motorman said that the punishing the erring staff is not going to solve the problem. The solution lies in making the system fool proof."

Friday's incident could have proved serious had the train on Platform No. 6 also pulled out of the station. This would have resulted in side collision. The other possibility was of the train coming out of Platform No 5 getting derailed as the cross-over point was set for forward movement of train moving out of Platform No. 6. Fortunately, the erring train did not reach the cross over point. The erring motorman managed to apply emergency brake soon after three compartments had crossed the signaling pole.

Brace yourself for more trouble than usual while travelling by suburban trains over the next two weekends as the Central Railway (CR) is planning mega blocks to switch from the existing 1,500 volt direct current (DC) to 25,000 volt alternate current (AC) between Kalyan and

Thane. According to sources, while there will be four-hour blocks during this weekend for inspection, the actual conversion will take place during a four-hour night block next weekend.

However, since the CR is already under fire for frequent disruption of services because of water-logging and technical failures, officials are reluctant to carry out blocks on consecutive weekends.

“This may lead to more problems for commuters,” said an official.

Being a more powerful and efficient traction system, adopting AC-traction will allow CR to run more trains, increase the speed of those and reduce energy bills, too. After conversion, CR officials also expect reduction in the travel time of suburban locals by a few minutes.

On the slow corridor, the conversion will be completed up to the Kalawa car shed, while on the fast corridor, it will be up to the south-end of the Thane station. AC-traction will also be adopted for the fifth and sixth corridors between Thane and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) stations.

A senior official told HT that inspection work has been proposed to begin on June 21, but four-hour blocks were proposed for June 22 and 23. While the actual process will be completed during four-hour blocks on the midnight of June 29-30, there will be three-hour blocks for post-conversion work.

“A detailed program has been sent to us by the Commissioner Railway Safety (CRS), we are awaiting a nod from the general manager,” the official said.

“The schedule for CRS inspection has been sent to the headquarters for an approval. A final decision on the block is is expected on Friday,” said Atul Rane, chief public relations officer of CR.

Brace yourself for more trouble than usual while travelling by suburban trains over the next two weekends as the Central Railway (CR) is planning mega blocks to switch from the existing 1,500 volt direct current (DC) to 25,000 volt alternate current (AC) between Kalyan and

Thane. According to sources, while there will be four-hour blocks during this weekend for inspection, the actual conversion will take place during a four-hour night block next weekend.

However, since the CR is already under fire for frequent disruption of services because of water-logging and technical failures, officials are reluctant to carry out blocks on consecutive weekends.

“This may lead to more problems for commuters,” said an official.

Being a more powerful and efficient traction system, adopting AC-traction will allow CR to run more trains, increase the speed of those and reduce energy bills, too. After conversion, CR officials also expect reduction in the travel time of suburban locals by a few minutes.

On the slow corridor, the conversion will be completed up to the Kalawa car shed, while on the fast corridor, it will be up to the south-end of the Thane station. AC-traction will also be adopted for the fifth and sixth corridors between Thane and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) stations.

A senior official told HT that inspection work has been proposed to begin on June 21, but four-hour blocks were proposed for June 22 and 23. While the actual process will be completed during four-hour blocks on the midnight of June 29-30, there will be three-hour blocks for post-conversion work.

“A detailed program has been sent to us by the Commissioner Railway Safety (CRS), we are awaiting a nod from the general manager,” the official said.

“The schedule for CRS inspection has been sent to the headquarters for an approval. A final decision on the block is is expected on Friday,” said Atul Rane, chief public relations officer of CR.

JAMMU, June 20: The first batch of Amarnath Yatra is all set to leave from the base camp here at Bhagwati Nagar on June 27 amid tight security measures for holy cave.
The State administration has finalized all the arrangements including security cover to yatris from Lakhanpur to holy cave situated in deep Himalayas in Kashmir Valley at an altitude of 14,000 feet from the sea level.
According to Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Pardeep Gupta, the first batch of yatra is scheduled to leave from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas on June 27 to hold darshan at holy cave on June 28. He said all arrangements including security for pilgrims have been made from Lakhanpur to Banihal in Jammu region as well as from Banihal to holy cave in Kashmir Valley on both sides of tracks i.e the traditional Pahalgam Nunwan track and shortest Baltal track.
However this year, the yatra registration has been strictly made on the basis of health certificates issued by the doctors and no pilgrim without obtaining the health and fitness certificate will be allowed to leave for darshan from the designated doctors for the job, he said, adding the Government has decided to implement the Supreme Court directives strictly in this regard.
To avert any untoward incident, the yatris will be provided three tier security by Army, CRPF and J&K Police, he said, adding the administration as well as Shri Amarnath Shrine Board have geared up in finalizing the arrangements.
The yatris will leave at 5 am from base camp Jammu daily under tight security arrangements. To ensure proper safety of yatris during their pilgrimage the authorities have made the arrangements of stand-by accommodation for 15,000 pilgrims daily enroute from Lakhanpur to Banihal at district headquarters of Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur and Ramban. Besides the respective Deputy Commissioners will also give permissions for free langers enroute in their area, he added.
Meanwhile, according to sources, four companies of CRPF along with J&K Police security personnel have been deployed at Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas from June 15 to sanitize the area and ensure that no unscrupulous elements made entry in the Yatri Niwas. The CRPF personnel have started their activities of sanitizing the area with the assistance of dog squads and bomb squads,  sources added.
The four companies of CRPF which have been deployed at Bhagwati Nagar included G Company, B Company, C Company and D Company and they have started the installation of tents in the Yatri Niwas area also.
In addition to it, the installation of tents and bunkers by security personnel, the private agencies have also started construction of sheds for providing free services of langer etc to the yatris at base camp which will be ready by June 25. Over 100 tents and sheds are likely to be installed at Yatri Niwas, sources added.
The sources said the arrangements are in place at base camps of Baltal and Nunwan also and the widening of track on both sides is going on with full speed by R&B. The railing work on downside of track from Baltal is going on while widening of track from Pahalgam side is also on and it will be completed before June 28 the first day of darshan, sources added.
Sources said that apart from tented accommodation at base camp of Baltal 150 prefabricated huts are in place. Besides, this the outsource huts have also been installed enroute to holy cave and tented accommodations will be also provided to pilgrims enroute, sources added.
Sources said 3300 pre fabricated toilets have been erected and proper arrangements of sanitation have been made on both sides of the track especially at base camps of Baltal and Nunwan with construction of two sewerage Treatment plants one each at Baltal and Nunwan.
Sources said that at Baltal the sewerage treatment plant will cater to the needs of 10,000 yatris per day while at Nunwan it will cater to the needs of 8000 people per day.