ProUI

New Delhi: Holding it guilty of poor upkeep of train coaches, a consumer forum has directed Railways to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation to a Supreme Court advocate, who injured his fingers due to a loosely covered fan in a train in 2011."We hold Indian Railways guilty of deficiency and direct Chairman, Railway Board, who is impleaded by us as main party, to pay compensation of Rs 1 lakh inclusive of litigation charges for the deficiency of poor upkeep of coaches," the New Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum said. A bench headed by C K Chaturvedi and members Asha Kumar and S R Chaudhary directed Railways to pay the amount in a month while also pulling it up for trying to dismiss the issue on the ground of jurisdiction.The order came on the complaint of Bharat Bhushan Dinkar, who said that he was travelling from Muzaffarpur in Bihar to Delhi in Sapt Kranti Express on August 21, 2011 when upon reaching the upper berth, his hand hit the overhead fan which was fitted with a broken cover, leading to grievous injuries to his fingers in the right hand.

He said upon reporting the matter to railway employees on board, he was given first aid at Narkatiyaganj junction and had to complete his journey in pain. He said he got his fingers examined at the Health Centre of Delhi High Court and was referred to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where he took treatment till January last year.The complainant also told the forum that being an advocate, he was not able to work on the laptop, handle books properly, or even hold a pen.The bench rejected Northern Railway's contention that the forum does not have the jurisdiction to hear the complaint and that as he suffered his injury in Bihar, he should go to that state to file the complaint."The whole contention is misconceived and deserves to be thrown out at the threshold. India Railway is one entity and for efficient management of its organisation, it is divided in Nine Zones under the Railway Act.
"He (complainant) suffered pain and inconvenience in whole journey till Delhi and in Delhi he got injury examined and got treated... Railway is directly responsible for injury sustained due to loosely covered fan, to any person in journey anywhere. The facts speak for themselves in the case," it said.

PUNE: Citizens group Pedestrians First has said that the Pune Municipal Corporation is yet to give satisfactory explanations about the proposed metro rail project between Vanaz and Ramwadi.In a letter sent to the union ministry of urban development, convenor of Pedestrians First Prashant Inamdar said citizen groups and experts have, for the past four years, been consistently bringing to the notice of PMC and the state government about several serious issues pertaining to the Vanaz — Ramwadi elevated Metro plan for Pune.The groups had also sent petitions to the union ministry of urban development.It is now more than four and half years since DMRC has submitted its Pune Metro report. However, PMC has not carried out detailed studies to determine whether the total plan proposed by DMRC can be implemented considering the ground reality and specific problem areas.It appears that the only aspect that PMC has simplistically considered while deciding feasibility of elevated Metro on Vanaz -Ramwadi corridor is whether metro columns and metro stations can be physically constructed at planned locations after required demolition of buildings and land acquisition'', Pedestrians First said.The main thrust of the petitions of citizens groups has been that as elevated metro has been planned in fully developed city areas, it is not right to look at it only as a civil or railway engineering issue. The matter needs to be viewed from the perspective of impacts which could be very serious. These impacts will not be localized in a particular area but will affect vast areas across the city. All these impacts are going to hit the citizens very hard, both during construction of metro and thereafter too'', Pedestrians First said.

New Delhi: After estimating that more than 1,000 buses and 3,000 passenger vehicles will be expected for the BJP rally at Rohini tomorrow morning, the Delhi Traffic Police has advised people who wish to join the rally to use the Metros to avoid the congestion on the roads.The rally is being organised at the Japanese Park ground at 10 am. According to the police, a large gathering of people is expected from Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. "Those who wish to join the rally should avoid private vehicles and use the Delhi Metro till the Rithala Metro station, which is located near the venue," said Addl Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Shukla.The DMRC has arranged services in anticipation that at least 50,000 people will use the Metro to reach the venue. "The frequency of the Metro arrival on Sundays will be reduced from five minutes to 3.3 minutes. The number of Metro trains running on Sundays has been doubled to 26 on the Red Line from Kashmiri Gate to Rithala. The DMRC has also facilitated feeder buses to ferry people to the venue from the Rohini West Metro station," said a BJP press release.The developments came after former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta, who is the convenor of the rally, discussed the travel arrangements with DMRC MD Mangu Singh.

The congestion is expected on the route of the rally and in the outer district from 8 am onwards. These areas are from Mukarba Chowk to Peeragarhi Chowk on Outer Ring Road, from Wazirpur depot to Rithala Metro station and from Punjabi Bagh Chowk to Azadpur. To reduce traffic congestion, the goods vehicle will be diverted at Shahbad Dairy, Peera Garhi Chowk, Wazirpur Bus Depot and Mukarba Chowk.

"The public and motorists are advised to avoid the places in vicinity of Japanese Park, Dr. K.N. Katzu Marg and Outer Ring Road from the Peeragarhi flyover to the Mukarba flyover. No vehicle will be allowed to park on the arterial roads in and around the venue. A heavy penalty will be imposed on such vehicles," said Shukla.

New Delhi: Holding it guilty of poor upkeep of train coaches, a consumer forum has directed Railways to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation to a Supreme Court advocate, who injured his fingers due to a loosely covered fan in a train in 2011."We hold Indian Railways guilty of deficiency and direct Chairman, Railway Board, who is impleaded by us as main party, to pay compensation of Rs 1 lakh inclusive of litigation charges for the deficiency of poor upkeep of coaches," the New Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum said. A bench headed by C K Chaturvedi and members Asha Kumar and S R Chaudhary directed Railways to pay the amount in a month while also pulling it up for trying to dismiss the issue on the ground of jurisdiction.The order came on the complaint of Bharat Bhushan Dinkar, who said that he was travelling from Muzaffarpur in Bihar to Delhi in Sapt Kranti Express on August 21, 2011 when upon reaching the upper berth, his hand hit the overhead fan which was fitted with a broken cover, leading to grievous injuries to his fingers in the right hand.

He said upon reporting the matter to railway employees on board, he was given first aid at Narkatiyaganj junction and had to complete his journey in pain. He said he got his fingers examined at the Health Centre of Delhi High Court and was referred to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where he took treatment till January last year.The complainant also told the forum that being an advocate, he was not able to work on the laptop, handle books properly, or even hold a pen.The bench rejected Northern Railway's contention that the forum does not have the jurisdiction to hear the complaint and that as he suffered his injury in Bihar, he should go to that state to file the complaint."The whole contention is misconceived and deserves to be thrown out at the threshold. India Railway is one entity and for efficient management of its organisation, it is divided in Nine Zones under the Railway Act.
"He (complainant) suffered pain and inconvenience in whole journey till Delhi and in Delhi he got injury examined and got treated... Railway is directly responsible for injury sustained due to loosely covered fan, to any person in journey anywhere. The facts speak for themselves in the case," it said.

PUNE: Citizens group Pedestrians First has said that the Pune Municipal Corporation is yet to give satisfactory explanations about the proposed metro rail project between Vanaz and Ramwadi.In a letter sent to the union ministry of urban development, convenor of Pedestrians First Prashant Inamdar said citizen groups and experts have, for the past four years, been consistently bringing to the notice of PMC and the state government about several serious issues pertaining to the Vanaz — Ramwadi elevated Metro plan for Pune.The groups had also sent petitions to the union ministry of urban development.It is now more than four and half years since DMRC has submitted its Pune Metro report. However, PMC has not carried out detailed studies to determine whether the total plan proposed by DMRC can be implemented considering the ground reality and specific problem areas.It appears that the only aspect that PMC has simplistically considered while deciding feasibility of elevated Metro on Vanaz -Ramwadi corridor is whether metro columns and metro stations can be physically constructed at planned locations after required demolition of buildings and land acquisition'', Pedestrians First said.The main thrust of the petitions of citizens groups has been that as elevated metro has been planned in fully developed city areas, it is not right to look at it only as a civil or railway engineering issue. The matter needs to be viewed from the perspective of impacts which could be very serious. These impacts will not be localized in a particular area but will affect vast areas across the city. All these impacts are going to hit the citizens very hard, both during construction of metro and thereafter too'', Pedestrians First said.

COIMBATORE: Apprehensive about the proposed 15% hike in railway freight tariff from October 1, representatives from various industries in Coimbatore feel that the burden will be too much for them to bear. "The hike has come at a most inopportune time when the entire industrial scenario is down due to factors such as economic slowdown and lack of orders," Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) president R Ramachandran said. Since industries in the region are going through one of the most difficult times, he urged the government to reverse the proposal."Diesel prices are being hiked on a regular basis and the proposed hike in railway freight tariff will be damaging to industry," he said. Industries are finding it difficult to work out the costs for their products due to these factors. According to him, the proposed hike is contrary to the efforts taken by the same government to implement various measures to boost the growth of MSMEs in the country. "Under these circumstances, chances for cost-cutting seem to be remote and ultimately the added costs are transferred to the consumers," he added.Representatives from MSMEs say that the proposed hike has come as a rude shock to them. "Government has now pushed us into yet another crisis and it will be difficult for the MSMEs to stay competitive," district president of Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Enterprises (TACT) J James said. Manufacturers here are mostly dependent on rail for transporting raw materials from northern states to Coimbatore and sending the finished goods to various markets.

"We are already struggling to compete against products made in northern states due to price difference and the proposed hike will have a telling effect on MSMEs here," said James. At a time when the price rise of most products affect the common man, it is feared that the proposed hike in railway freight tariff is expected to result in further increase in prices of commodities. "Such revision of tariff should be announced only in the railway budget and this is not a healthy trend," said K Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause.

The railways has started to revise tariff along the lines of oil companies that hike the prices of fuels regularly. "What is the need for the railway budget when the railways are taking liberty to revise the tariff during the financial year?," he questioned.

The railway overbridge (ROB) being constructed in place of Lakkar Pul will be complete by November this year. The work on the ROB was delayed as some part of it was to be constructed by the state government through the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation.This was disclosed in a letter by the Union Railway Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, to the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari, who had sought his personal intervention for the early completion of the overbridge.The Railways were supposed to construct two spans, one straight and another curved, while the approach roads were to be completed by the Municipal Corporation.The minister said, while the work on the straight span was expected to be completed by October this year, the work on the curved span would be completed by November this year.The railway bridge portion consists of two separate legs in Y shape and each leg is of two road widths and another leg is on a curve having two spans. The foundation and the sub-structure of the straight span have been completed. The super structure girder for one span has been fabricated, tested and brought to the site for launching and the girder for another span has also been fabricated and is undergoing testing. The work on this span is expected to be completed by October 2013.The foundation and sub-structure of the curved span has been completed while design of the pier cap is in progress and is expected to be completed by November this year.

कानपुर, एक प्रतिनिधि: रेलवे स्टेशन पर आप पहुंचेंगे तो उद्घोषणा सुनाई देगी कि यात्रीगण कृपया ध्यान दें.., हम आपके सफल, सुखद एवं मंगलमय यात्रा की कामना करते हैं। लेकिन रेलवे की यह कामना महज छलावा है, क्योंकि सेंट्रल से रोज गुजरने वाली 320 सवारी ट्रेनों में करीब दो सौ ट्रेनों में आपकी सुरक्षा के लिए पुलिस स्कॉट नहीं होता। यही वजह है कि लुटेरे, बदमाश व जहरखुरान जीआरपी व आरपीएफ की कमजोरी को भांपते हुए ट्रेनों में यात्रियों संग वारदात को अंजाम देकर आराम से निकल जाते हैं और पुलिस बल लकीर पीटता रह जाता है।

सेंट्रल स्टेशन की जीआरपी का स्कॉट मात्र 12 ट्रेनों की सुरक्षा व्यवस्था संभाले है। इतनी ही ट्रेनों का जिम्मा आरपीएफ के पास भी है। इलाहाबाद, लखनऊ, टुंडला, मुगलसराय, झांसी के जीआरपी और आरपीएफ की पुलिस चौकी को भी मिला लें तो करीब 60 से 70 और ट्रेनों में सुरक्षा व्यवस्था बढ़ जाती है। बाकी ट्रेनें राम भरोसे हैं। अब इस कमी की नतीजा जानिए। दिल्ली हावड़ा रूट पर पिछले कुछ वर्षो में सौ से अधिक ट्रेनों में डकैती पड़ चुकी हैं। ये सभी डकैतियां टुंडला से गाजियाबाद के बीच की हैं। जहरखुरानी की 2000 से अधिक घटनाएं हो चुकी हैं। लूट छिनैती की घटनाएं भी साढ़े तीन हजार से ज्यादा हैं। अतिसंवेदनशील क्षेत्रों में सबसे ज्यादा खतरनाक झकरकटी का पुल है। यहां दो ट्रेन यात्रियों की हत्या भी लुटेरे कर चुके हैं।

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इंसेट..

इस वर्ष कुछ प्रमुख घटनाएं

ø 2 अप्रैल को जनसाधारण में डकैती।

ø 5 अप्रैल को नीलांचल में डाका।

ø 6 अप्रैल को शिकोहाबाद पैसेंजर में पांच लाख के जेवर उड़ाए।

ø 7 अप्रैल को सीमांचल एक्सप्रेस में नेपाली यात्री को लूटकर गोली मारी।

ø 29 जून को अहमदाबाद-गोरखपुर एक्सप्रेस में डकैती।

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''सेंट्रल स्टेशन के अलावा कई स्टेशनों की रेलवे पुलिस ट्रेनों में स्कॉट करती है। प्रत्येक ट्रेनों को स्टेशनों पर चेक किया जाता है। संदिग्ध यात्रियों से पूछताछ भी होती है।''

-संजय पांडेय, इंस्पेक्टर, आरपीएफ, सेंट्रल स्टेशन

Bangalore: M. Mallikarjuna Kharge, Union railway minister urged the state government to immediately release its share of funds for the railway projects including Bangalore- Hassan railway lines and ensure quick land acquisition process to complete the ongoing projects.He was speaking after flagging off the Yeshwantpur-Mangalore Weekly Express in Bangalore, Kharge said that only Rs 50 crore has been released by the State government, while the Railways released Rs 320 crore. “We have earmarked over Rs. 700 crore for projects in Karnataka and the funding should be shared equally by the State government. In the next six months, the government has to release the balance Rs 650 crore at the rate of Rs 109 crore a month, but it is lagging behind,” he said.The Yeshwantpur-Mangalore Weekly Express will leave Yeshwanthpur at 11.55 p.m. on Sundays and arrive at Mangalore at 5.40 p.m. on Mondays. It will start from Mangalore at 8 pm on Mondays to reach Yeshwantpur at 1.30 pm on Tuesdays. The train will stop at Banaswadi, Krishnarajapura, Bangarpet, Kuppam, Salem, Erode, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Palakkad, Shoranur, Tirur, Kozhikode, Vadakkara, Thalassery, Kannur, Payyanur and Kasargod. It will have one two-tier air-conditioned coach, one three-tier air-conditioned coach, seven second class sleeper coaches, six second class coaches and two second class sitting-cum-luggage vans.

Bangalore: M. Mallikarjuna Kharge, Union railway minister urged the state government to immediately release its share of funds for the railway projects including Bangalore- Hassan railway lines and ensure quick land acquisition process to complete the ongoing projects.He was speaking after flagging off the Yeshwantpur-Mangalore Weekly Express in Bangalore, Kharge said that only Rs 50 crore has been released by the State government, while the Railways released Rs 320 crore. “We have earmarked over Rs. 700 crore for projects in Karnataka and the funding should be shared equally by the State government. In the next six months, the government has to release the balance Rs 650 crore at the rate of Rs 109 crore a month, but it is lagging behind,” he said.The Yeshwantpur-Mangalore Weekly Express will leave Yeshwanthpur at 11.55 p.m. on Sundays and arrive at Mangalore at 5.40 p.m. on Mondays. It will start from Mangalore at 8 pm on Mondays to reach Yeshwantpur at 1.30 pm on Tuesdays. The train will stop at Banaswadi, Krishnarajapura, Bangarpet, Kuppam, Salem, Erode, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Palakkad, Shoranur, Tirur, Kozhikode, Vadakkara, Thalassery, Kannur, Payyanur and Kasargod. It will have one two-tier air-conditioned coach, one three-tier air-conditioned coach, seven second class sleeper coaches, six second class coaches and two second class sitting-cum-luggage vans.