ProUI

NASHIK: The Maharashtra government has urged the Central Railway (CR) to commence work planned for the forthcoming Kumbh Mela in Nashik.  The Office of the Nashik Divisional Commissioner has sent a letter to the CR, urging it to undertake Kumbh-related works at the earliest. The state has also urged the CR to start a permanent reservation counter at Trimbakeshwar town and begin construction work of platforms 4 and 5 at the Nashik Road Railway station.

With just 19 months left for the Kumbh Mela scheduled in 2015-16, the Maharashtra government has already twice asked the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) and the Public Works Department (PWD) to commence infrastructure work related to the Kumbh, given that such work will require 18 to 20 months to be completed.

“Follow-ups pertaining to Kumbh work are being done regularly,” divisional revenue commissioner Ravindra Jadhav told on Saturday.

In its last Mumbai meeting, the High Power Committee for Kumbh had in principle approved a Rs.2,297-crore Kumbh plan for all government departments, including Rs 1,031.91 crore for the NMC, Rs.654.21 crore for the PWD, Rs.80.76 crore for the Water Resources Department WRD and Rs.25.75 crore for the Railways. The plan will soon be presented to the apex committee of the state government, chaired by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, for approval.

In an attempt to provide comfort to the commuters and also to clear the huge waitlist of passengers during Durga Puja season, over one lakh additional berths have been created by East Coast Railway on September and October 2013. Through this, 1, 76,580 additional berths (including 94,586 additional berths originating from ECoR) have been created to provide comfortable journey to the passengers during this peak Puja-rush Season.These trains are- Bhubaneswar-New Delhi AC Super fast Express via Angul and Sambalpur City, Bhubaneswar-Yesvantpur AC Super fast Express, Visakhapatnam-Tata via Keonjhar, Puri-Santragachhi, Puri-Sealdah, Visakhapatnam-Kollam and Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad AC Super fast Express.Apart from this, 82,026 berths have been created in 9 special trains passing through ECoR jurisdiction to facilitate the passengers between Hatia & Yesvantpur via Sambalpur, Santragachhi-Kochuveli, Hyderabad-Shalimar, Shalimar-Yesvantpur, Secunderabad-Guwahati, Kamakhya-Yesvantpur, Kamakhya-Chennai, Santragachhi-Chennai and Dibrugarh & Kochuveli.

Extension of 12884 upto Howrah

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.

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.

Radha Sreevaran and her husband had just stepped into the two-tier AC compartment on a train at the Bangalore City railway station last week when three men offered to help them with their luggage. Soon after, the couple realised that Mr. Sreevaran’s mobile phone was missing from his pocket.“It was just about five seconds after they left the compartment that we realised the phone was missing. The three men were wearing uniforms and looked like cleaners. The phone had been gifted to my husband exactly a month ago,” said Ms. Sreevaran, recounting the theft.The cleaners were later summoned by the ticket collector (TC) on the train and Ms. Sreevaran recognised two of them. She filed a complaint with the Bangarpet police, where the train stopped next, and the two men were detained by the police for questioning.The police are yet to ascertain whether the men were indeed involved in the theft.There have been several incidents like this at the City railway station, be it on trains or on the railway platforms. Passengers have complained of losing their luggage, laptops, wallets and briefcases.Some months ago, an NRI lodged a complaint with the railway police after losing his briefcase, containing foreign currencies among other valuables. He too fell prey to an attention diversion tactic. “A man drew my attention to a Rs. 10 note fallen near the ticket counter while I was speaking on the mobile phone. Unconsciously, I bent to pick up the note. When I turned around, my luggage was missing.”The Government Railway Police (GRP) at the City railway station has registered 164 cases this year so far. These include 15 in August and seven in September so far. Picking pockets and suitcase lifting accounted for most cases. About 56 cases pertained to theft while eight were cases of chain-snatching.So far this year, 35 arrests have been made and 22 high-end mobile phones recovered.In 2012, 213 cases were registered.However, these figures may only be a fraction of the actual crimes, as many go unreported. “Not all passengers come forward to file a complaint,” a Railway police official 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.

कटनी। आप ट्रेन में यात्रा कर रहे हैं, और आपकी चप्पलें टूट गई हैं तो निराश होने की बात नहीं है। क्योंकि आपके लिए बेकार हो चुकी चप्पलें रेलवे के काम आ सकती हैं। बस आप इन्हें कटनी जंक्शन रेलवे स्टेशन तक पहुंचा दीजिए। आप आश्चर्य में पड़ गए ना, लेकिन यह बात सौ फीसदी सच है। कटनी जंक्शन से गुजरने वाली ट्रेनें जुगाड़ की पटरी पर दौड रही हैं। यहां पटरियों की चाबियों को कसने के लिए रेलवे प्रशासन द्वारा स्टेशन में पड़ी फटी पुरानी चप्पलों से काम चलाया जा रहा है। इससे ट्रेनों के गुजरते समय दुर्घटना की आशंका निरंतर बनी रहती है। कटनी जंक्शन की डाउन ट्रेक मैन लाइन की पटरी की चाबियां फटी चप्पलों को लगाकर कसी जा रही हैं। रेलवे के इस अनोखे जुगाड़ वाले कारनामे पर प्रतिदिन सैकड़ों यात्रियों की नजर पड़ती है, लेकिन आज तक जिम्मेदार अधिकारियों का ध्यान इस ओर नहीं गया। जबलपुर एंड से सतना एंड के बीच की पटरी में करीब एक दर्जन चाबियां ऎसी हैं जिन्हें लाइनर के बजाए चप्पलों के सहारे कसा गया है।

टै्रक से उतर सकती हैं गाडियां

जिन ट्रेनों का कटनी जंक्शन का स्टॉपेज नहीं है वे डाउन ट्रेक से सीधे आगे निकल जाती हैं। कटनी डाउन टै्रक से प्रतिदिन दर्जनों माल गाड़ी व सवारी गाडियां तेज रफ्तार से गुजरती हैं। ऎसे में यदि किसी दिन चप्पलों के टूटने पर चाबियां ढ़ीली पड़ जाएं तो पटरियां हिलने लगेंगी, इससे इंजन व डिब्बे पटरियों से उतर सकते हैं।

क्या है चाबी

रेल की पांतों को स्लीपरों से कसने के लिए उपयोग की जाने वाली लोहे की जलेबी नुमा रॉड होती है। जिसे पटरी के दोनों ओर लगाकर कसा जाता है। ताकि पटरियां निश्चित दूरी पर स्थिरता के साथ बनी रहें। पुरानी या घिस जाने के बाद चाबियों को स्थिर करने के लिए मैटल और फाइबर के लाइनर लगाए जाते हैं। जबकि कटनी के इंजीनियरिंग सेक्शन द्वारा लाइनर के जगह टूटी चप्पलों का उपयोग किया जा रहा है।

कटनी जंक्शन पर हजारों यात्रियों की जान से खिलवाड़ किया जा रहा है। यहां चाबियों को कसने के लिए पुरानी चप्पलों का इस्तेमाल किया जा रहा है, जो दुर्घटना का कारण बन सकता है।

इनका कहना है

पटरियों की देखरेख व मैंटेनेंस हमारे पास है। पुरानी चाबियों में लाइनर लगाए जाते हैं, ताकि वे एक मजबूती से अपनी जगह टिकी रहें। हां चप्पलें तो लगाई गई हैं, जो कि नियमानुसार ठीक नहीं है। चाबी का काम देखने वाला पूरे दिन दौड़ भाग करता रहता है, इसलिए शायद उसने चप्पलें लगाकर उन्हें कस दिया हो। -एके प्रसाद, खंड अभियंता, पीवे, रेलवे विभाग

-लाली कोष्टा

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:  Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Saturday suspended two of its engineers and initiated action against contractors responsible for the crack in one of the pillars of the Noida City Centre Metro station, an official statement said.

The decision came following a report submitted by a high-level committee of the DMRC, comprising three general manager-level officers, who investigated the cause of the crack.

“Based on the findings of the inquiry committee, DMRC’s managing director, Mangu Singh has ordered the suspension of two DMRC engineers – a junior engineer and an assistant engineer, now working as executive engineer – with immediate effect,” the statement said.

“DMRC will be taking up these engineers’ case as per the organisation’s disciplinary and appeal procedures,” the statement said.

The DMRC said the contractor did not adhere to the design and building material standards approved by it, while the two engineers failed to detect the lapse and allowed further casting of the girder.

“Action against the contractor will be as per the terms of contract, since liability lies with the contractor,” the statement said.

Gammon India Ltd and Arch Consultant are the building and designing contractors.

Meanwhile, to avoid such incidents again, Singh ordered that photographic evidence of the design of the structure and material used in the construction should be kept on record.

The repair works of the pillar are ongoing, and expected to last three weeks.

According to DMRC, train operations need not stop during the repair work. There will, however, be restriction in the speed of trains as a precaution. Also, operations will be restricted to one platform.