ProUI

Sanction divisional Railway headquarters to Gulbarga, Kharge urged

The zilla panchayat general body meeting on Friday approved an action plan for the first phase of the Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) of Rs. 11.55 crore.The panchayat had originally sent a proposal seeking Rs. 25.78 crore to the Union government. Of this, Rs. 3.3 crore would be given to gram panchayats; Rs. 2.99 crore to taluk panchayats, Rs. 3.14 crore reserved for the zilla panchayat and Rs. 1.84 crore to urban local bodies.A sum of Rs. 76 lakh would be reserved to pay the salaries of guest teachers appointed to fill vacancies in government schools.Panchayat members were unhappy over the cut in allocation of funds to individual members, and pointed out that at the district planning committee meeting, Rs. 12 lakh was promised to each of the 43 members. Now, as per the revised plan, Rs. 7 lakh would be given.After a prolonged discussion, it was decided to use the funds available under other programmes to increase allocations to panchayat members to Rs. 11.95 lakh.A resolution passed at the meeting urged Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge to sanction the divisional Railway headquarters to Gulbarga and expedite the construction of the Gulbarga–Bidar line.

SCR Nets More Than One Lakh Rupees Towards Penalty From Ticketless Travellers in a Special Surprise Road Check Conducted at Chintalapalli Station

              The Secunderabad Division of South Central Railway  conducted a  special surprise  road check o­n 21stJune, 2013 at Chintalapalli Station o­n Kazipet-Mahbubabad section  under the direct supervision of Assistant Commercial Manager.  47 Ticket checking staff, 8 Government Railway Police personnel and 4 Railway Protection Force  personnel were deployed in the check. This Special Ticket checking Squad went by Road and stationed at Chintalapalli.

Several  Express and Passenger trains were stopped at this station specially for ticket checking prupose and all the coaches of the trains were checked at a time without leaving any scope for the errant to escape.

            As a result of the surprise check, a total of 326 persons were apprehended for committing ticketless / irregular travel.  259 persons were found Travelling without Ticket and 11  persons  Travelling  irregularly  and  56    cases  of  Un-booked  Luggage. An  amount  of  Rs. 1,04000/- was realized towards penalty from these travelers.

SCR Nets More Than One Lakh Rupees Towards Penalty From Ticketless Travellers in a Special Surprise Road Check Conducted at Chintalapalli Station

              The Secunderabad Division of South Central Railway  conducted a  special surprise  road check o­n 21stJune, 2013 at Chintalapalli Station o­n Kazipet-Mahbubabad section  under the direct supervision of Assistant Commercial Manager.  47 Ticket checking staff, 8 Government Railway Police personnel and 4 Railway Protection Force  personnel were deployed in the check. This Special Ticket checking Squad went by Road and stationed at Chintalapalli.

Several  Express and Passenger trains were stopped at this station specially for ticket checking prupose and all the coaches of the trains were checked at a time without leaving any scope for the errant to escape.

            As a result of the surprise check, a total of 326 persons were apprehended for committing ticketless / irregular travel.  259 persons were found Travelling without Ticket and 11  persons  Travelling  irregularly  and  56    cases  of  Un-booked  Luggage. An  amount  of  Rs. 1,04000/- was realized towards penalty from these travelers.

Within a year of the West Bengal government exiting the metro rail network here, the railway ministry has said it is reluctant to take forward the Rs 4,676-crore east-west metro project, owing to lack of funds.The metro project aims to connect Salt Lake to Howrah.“We are reluctant. The project has been thrust upon the railways by (chief minister) Mamata Banerjee,” Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told Business Standard.Currently, Indian Railways has a 74 per cent stake in the project. The Union urban development ministry accounts for the remaining stake. In 2008, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), in charge of executing the project, was floated as a 50:50 joint venture between the urban development ministry and the West Bengal government. However, in 2010, when Mamata Banerjee was the Union railway minister, an in-principle agreement was signed, enabling the railways to acquire majority stake in the project.  After taking over as West Bengal chief minister in 2011, Banerjee pursued the stake-handover case with the Centre, with her party member Dinesh Trivedi and, later, Mukul Roy, at the helm of affairs at the railway ministry.Just months before the Trinamool Congress parted ways with the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, Banerjee managed to secure the Cabinet’s nod for the handover of the project to the railways, despite opposition from the urban development ministry. Japanese Bank of International Cooperation, which is financing half the project cost through a loan, had also opposed the move. For the cash-strapped Bengal government, the stake handover came as a respite.“The railways already has too many pending projects. In all cities, it is the state government taking the responsibility for metro projects. Why would it be different in Kolkata? The railways has inherited a huge financial liability with this project,” Chowdhury said.When asked whether the railways was looking for an exit route from the project, he said, “We are discussing the matter with the urban development ministry. Talks are at a preliminary level. We will see what can be done.”  For this financial year, the project has a budgetary allocation of only Rs 100 crore. “Funding is an issue. Anyway, what is the point of a higher allocation if it cannot be used because of the state’s non-cooperation?” Chowdhury asked.The 15-km metro project is also facing land acquisition hurdles, as some who lost their land in the process have moved the Calcutta High Court. Thought the court ruled in favour of handing the land to KMRC, the state has suggested the metro route be realigned.Sources say some contractors have already threatened to pull out. Officially, the project is running two years behind schedule. And, officials say given the hurdles at the management and operational levels, it is almost impossible to meet even the revised deadline of 2015-16.

Railways 
Northern Railway will run two pairs of special trains, 04911/04912 between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Beas and 04917/04918 between Saharanpur and Beas.

COIMBATORE: People living close to Peelamedu railway station in the city had a scare when four empty wagons of a goods train that were being pushed along a shunting line by a group of loading workers at the station derailed and almost fell over the houses located close to the railway line. A disaster was avoided only because the bogies rammed an electric post and stopped moving.On Friday morning, the goods train had arrived at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown next to the Peelamedu station carrying rice bags from Hosur. The rice bags were downloaded by the godown workers and the rake with four wagons detached from the engine. Later at noon, about 15 workers started to push the rake along the shunting line to park them at a convenient location. However, as they started pushing, the rake gained speed and ran for almost a kilometre before derailing near a residential area. If not for the electric post that came in the way, the wagons could have collapsed on the houses situated close to the railway line.

According to Peelamedu railway station master S Thomas, no coaches or wagons are to be moved without being attached to an engine. "We have sought an explanation from the FCI authorities. We are taking stock of the damages. A compensation amount would be charged from the FCI and its employees would be strictly warned against pushing empty wagons through the track,'' he said.

Local residents said FCI workers routinely push empty bogies through the tracks to park them at convenient locations. "The electric post saved us. Imagine if the wagons had collapsed over the houses. There must be more vigilance on the part of both the railways and the FCI. Why should the railways allow wagons to left on the station without the engine?'' asked S Sivasubrahmanyam, a local resident."There was an element of luck in the incident. The wagons were stopped by the electric post. As it was on the shunting line, the incident did not affect the running of passenger trains. But the incident exposes the callous way authorities allow people to manage bogies of goods trains,'' said R Raveendran, member, Coimbatore Railway Struggle Committee and a native of Peelamedu. "We will bring up the issue before senior officials. The FCI must be more serious about running its business,'' added M Jameel Ahmed of Railway Consultative Committee.

A formal decision has been taken to name the system of mass rapid transport as ‘Kochi Metro’, and not ‘Komet’ as was planned earlier. There were allegations that the earlier name was selected without reaching a consensus.The other metros in the country, except the Bangalore Metro (named ‘Namma Metro’) are known by the names of their respective cities.

Faced with mounting opposition from merchants and the traffic police to the move to totally ban traffic on 600-metre-long stretches on MG Road during weekends, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has decided to restrict traffic curbs to two lanes of the four-lane road.This means, one lane will be open to vehicles on either side when works are on during Saturdays and Sundays for four weeks. A total ban on traffic movement along Madhava Pharmacy Junction-Jos Junction stretch for two weeks had been mooted for excavating the four-lane stretch to locate pipelines and cables.The Kerala Merchants’ Union was among the organisations that sought limiting of the excavation to two lanes at a time, so that vehicles can move along one free lane in both directions.“With a decision being taken to limit excavation to two lanes at a time, we hope to get the permission of the traffic police, the District Administration and Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) to commence the works this weekend,” DMRC sources said.The DMRC had used scanners to trace the utility conduits but could not locate many of them. “The KWA and most other agencies have not maintained proper records of the precise location of the utility ducts and we have no option but to dig up the road. It is crucial to locate them prior to commencing piling works for Kochi Metro’s civil works,” sources in the agency said.With traffic curbs limited to two lanes, the DMRC expressed the confidence that the excavation work on the 2.5-km stretch can be done on four weekends. As per the plan, work will be confined to a 600-metre stretch at any given time. The ducts will be relocated if need be, based on the piling requirements.

“Vehicles will be diverted through the Chittoor Road, Banerjee Road and Shanmugham Road, depending on the need,” said a senior traffic police officer.

The PWD had resurfaced the road a few months ago at a cost of around Rs 6 crore, disregarding concerns raised by metro stakeholders that it would have to be dug up for locating and shifting utility conduits and for metro’s civil works.

Utility-related works are expected to conclude by July end, following which the road will be temporarily restored. “The metro’s civil works will begin only after Onam. This is because we do not want to disrupt festival sales during the season along the prime commercial street,” a senior DMRC official said.

As part of the civil works, 200-metre stretches will be barricaded at intervals. “Though the works across the Aluva-Pettah alignment are expected to get over in 24 months, we will strive to complete the work on the pillars and viaduct along M.G. Road in 18 months’ time,” sources said.

CONTRACTS FINALISED

In the meantime, the contract to build the viaduct and stations on the international stadium-Ernakulam South stretch has been awarded to Soma Constructions and that for the South-Pettah stretch to Era Constructions.

The DMRC has estimated the works to cost Rs 360 crore and Rs 345 crore respectively.

HYDERABAD: Having initially shown preference for the metro rail over the Multi Modal Transport System (MMTS), GMR, operator of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, has now warmed up to the railways and has agreed to an MMTS railway line to its doorstep. After a marathon meeting held on Thursday night between officials of the government, GMR and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which will execute the 71 km MMTS phase-II project, a consensus was reached, senior officials said. The MMTS phase-II involves multiplication and electrification of existing railway lines on Tellapur-Patancheru, Secunderabad-Bolarum, Sanathnagar-Moula Ali, Moula Ali-Malkajgiri-Sitaphalmandi, Bolarum-Medchal and Moula Ali-Ghatkesar sections as well as a new railway line from Umdanagar to the international airport (6.7 km) was also to be laid in this phase. But when RVNL issued tender notifications in April calling bids for the execution of the works, it left out the Umdanagar-airport section. This was reportedly due to GMR preferring the swankier metro rail over the MMTS. However, it now seems like the government has managed to convince GMR to go ahead with the MMTS. "GMR has agreed in principle for the MMTS line. They asked to be allowed to choose the location of the terminal station on their premises," said transport commissioner D Lakshmi Parthasarathy. Of the 6.7 km line, the last 3 km is said to be airport land. RVNL officials said that GMR has asked for two months to determine the location of the station. "GMR representatives said they need time to appoint a consultant who would determine the location of terminus on their land in order to facilitate easy passenger movement into the airport. Once the location has been determined, we will work out the alignment to connect to Umdanagar," said P Srinivas, chief project manager, RVNL. This, however, does not mean curtains on the metro rail-airport connectivity. Well placed sources said that GMR is also keen on having metro rail connectivity and may choose the location of the MMTS station with metro rail in mind. However, the metro rail is not immediately in the offing as the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited is not keen on adding new routes to the ongoing work. When contacted, a GMR spokesperson said, "The discussion on MMTS is at an early stage of development. We are exploring the proposal with us to evaluate its feasibility. We will revert to the authority once our evaluation is done."

MLC and DCC secretary M. Sudhakar Babu has said that the Kotla family is singularly responsible for the development of Kurnool district.Talking to reporters here on Saturday, he hailed Union Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jayasuryaprakasa Reddy for securing new trains, developing Kurnool station and sanctioning grants for the Abdul Wahab Tomb and eco-park.He said the Minister was instrumental in sanctioning Rs. 8 crore for the development of an eco-park on reserve forest land on the outskirts of Kurnool city and Rs. 2 crore for Abdul Wahab tomb, a heritage structure.He said the Minister would flag off two trains towards Nandyal and Secunderabad on June 25.The only pending project was wagon workshop, the foundation for which would be laid soon. Mr. Sudhakar Babu said the critics of Kotla family had no moral right to target them.