RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / असम हिंसा में 25 मरे, फिर निशाना बनी राजधानी एक्‍सप्रेस

कोकराझार (असम). असम में बोडो एवं अल्पसंख्यक प्रवासियों के बीच संघर्ष जारी है। पुलिस की गोलीबारी में आज चार और लोगों की मौत के साथ इस हिंसा में मरने वालों की संख्या 25 तक पहुंच गई है। हिंसा राज्‍य के 11 जिलों के करीब 500 गांवों में फैल गई है। करीब 60 हजार लोग घर छोड़ कर भाग गए हैं (तस्‍वीरें)। वे शरणार्थी कैंपों में रह रहे हैं।   कोकराझार में सोमवार को दो शव बरामद किए गए। जिले में बेमियादी कर्फ्यू लगाया गया है। उपद्रवियों को देखते ही गोली मारने का आदेश जारी किया गया है। बीटीएडी के आईजीपी एसएन सिंह ने यह जानकारी दी। उन्होंने कहा, 'राज्य में सोमवार को हिंसा की कई घटनाएं हुईं। सबसे ज्यादा प्रभावित जिला कोकराझार है। यहां कर्फ्यू लगाया गया है। उपद्रवियों को देखते ही गोली मारने का आदेश दिया गया है।'

  Indian Railways News  / Train between Sriganganagar and Ferozepur sought

Fazilka : Activists of the Sanjha Morcha, who spearheaded a 45-day-long agitation recently demanding the opening of the Fazilka-Abohar rail track, have reiterated their demand for an express train between Ferozepur and Sriganganagar via Fazilka and Abohar as the track has now been thrown open for rail traffic.In this year’s railway budget, the proposed train had been announced. Besides, during the inauguration of the Fazilka-Abohar track last week, the Minister of State for Railways KH Muniyappa had announced that the train between Ferozepur-Sriganganagar would run soon.The Sanjha Morcha organized a special prgramme today to felicitate the representatives of those organizations who sat on dharna during the agitation.Sanjha Morcha office-bearers, Dr Amar Lal Baghla, Raj Kishore Kalra, Shakti Singh, Raj Pal Gumber and Sushil Gumber, president of the Bar Association, Fazilka, presented certificates of commendation to the representatives of 45 organisations who joined the chain hunger strike from June 1 to July 16.President of the Northern Railway Passenger Samiti, Dr Baghla, demanded that a new train from Sriganganagar to Delhi via Abohar, Fazilka, Muktsar and Bathinda should be started to enable the passengers have a direct link to the national capital. —

  Indian Railways News  / Assam riots Live: No confirmation on militants’ role in violence, says Gogoi

6.37pm Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to Times Now
“It is a serious concern. I have asked security forces to deal with the miscreants firmly. We have received no confirmation on involvement of any militant group in the violence so far,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told Times Now in Guwahati.

Explaining the reasons behind the clashes, Gogoi said, “Clashes are happening due to clash of interest. It is not an infiltration issue completely.”

5.19pm BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman on Assam violence

“The violence in Assam is completely communal. The prime minister being a MP from Assam should immediately issue a statement. It is a problem of illegal migrants. No minister has reached the affected areas. The ministers are being biased to a particular community. Congress should bury its communal agenda. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is trying hard not to call the violence communal but we know it is so as informed by our team vising the state today,” Sitharaman told a press conference in New Delhi.

“Thousands have people have been rendered homeless and facilities in the temporary camps are inadequate,” she said.

5.00 pm Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday spoke to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi asking him to “monitor the situation closely” and to “ensure safety of people”.

4.45pm: A special home ministry team will be rushed to Assam to assess the security situation.

4.30pm One of the two ministers, Assam Agriculture Minister Nilamani Sen Deka who was rushed this morning to the Bodo areas to take stock of the violent situation in BTAD has been obstructed by thousands from entering the area.

4.25pm The national highway – 31, which connects the North East India with rest of the country is blocked by thousands at Bartala in Chirang district affecting traffic.

4.04 pm Activists from the All Bodo Students’ Union have blocked railway tracks at Kojkrajhar in Assam. Many trains are stopped at different stations for security reasons.

3.10pm The Centre as per the request from the Assam government has issued orders for more army deployment in the violence affected areas.

3.05 pm A 300-strong minority group is demonstrating in front of the Assam Bhavan in New Delhi demanding the scrapping of the BTAD. The group is also shouting slogans against Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

3.00pm: The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked for the additional deployment of 24 troops to Assam’s Kokrajhar district. Reports just coming in say that the MHA has commissioned a further 24 companies, which translates to 2400 additional men. The troops will be deployed to the towns of Dhubri and Chirang which saw violence erupting overnight.

Meanwhile a BJP delegation led by Vijay Goel will visit Assam to see the situation for themselves. Will report to BJP High Command on Kokrajhar

3.55pm: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says that the state is monitoring the situation, and confirmed that nearly 50,000 people had fled their homes in the restive Kokrajhar district. “We are taking the situation very seriously. Troops have been deployed”, he said.

However Gogoi also expressed confidence that the situation would be brought under control in another 2-3 days.

2.45pm: Home Secretary RK Singh has assured the Assam government that the centre would help maintain law and order in the state. He said that the MHA was in touch with forces and lawmakers in the state. Singh added that he had also spoken to the leaders of Bodos and Muslims in the state.

Meanwhile at least 18 trains are stalled at various stations across the state, and in North Bengal because of security concerns. Trains would have to pass through the restive region in order to pass through the state.

2.30 pm Bodoland Territorial Council chief Hagrama Mohilary said that minority people from outside are creating tension in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts.

Army patrol at Kokkrajhar in Assam. PTI “Muslim migrants are crossing the Brahmaputra from different places like Dhubri, Bilasipara, Golakganj and even from Bangladesh and entering the BTAD areas,” Mohilary said.

“There might be extremists elements. We definitely need more forces. Army presence is a must or even BSF or SSB,” he said.

1.30 pm: The DGP of the Assam police Jayanta Narayan Choudhury says the situation is under control.

“The situation is tense but under control. Forty companies are already are here. Fourteen are on the way. Force is not a problem. The Central government will provide us with as much force we need,” he said in an press meet.

The riot situation was building up gradually in the ethnically sensitive Bodoland Territorial Administered Districts (BTAD)—Kokrajhar, Baska, and Chirang barring Udalguri in Assam—since the beginning of July. The police were slow to anticipate trouble and still slower initiating action to quelling the flare-up. Nineteen people have lost their lives so far and people are still fleeing their homes for safety.

“On 6 July two persons from the minority community were killed. Again on 19 July, another two persons people from the minority community were found dead. These two incidents were indicators of what would follow. Yet in both the cases, police failed either to identify or nab the culprits,” Pramod Boro, president of All Bodo Students’ Union, told Firstpost in a telephonic conversation.

12.00 pm The Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express was stone pelted at Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar district damaging four coaches, though there was no casualty or injuries, North East Frontier Railway sources said in Guwahati.

The train was taken taken back to Kamakhyaguri station bordering West Bengal, and may be taken to Coochbehar.

  Indian Railways News  / What a track record: 6.7 kms in 4 years

It promised to ease Bengaluru’s traffic troubles, but the city’s Metro project has long passed the deadlines set. The years of BJP rule have seen the Metro begin its run only on Reach 1 covering a mere 6.7 kms, while Reach 3 between Swastik and Hessarghatta, which should have been operational by December 2012, is still in limbo. As the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) and the railways continue to haggle over land, the project seems to have hit an unsurmountable obstacle with no one in authority caring to step in and give it the push it needs.Ask Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), South Western Railway(SWR), S. Mani and he says the STC area cannot be parted with for the Metro Rail as it has been earmarked for training of key rail safety staff. “We cannot compromise on this. There are many issues to be resolved with the BMRCL before we can hand over such a vital piece of land,” he says, angry that the BMRCL had kept the SWR in the dark when executing work at Swastik. “Any agency, including the BMRCL, needs to take prior permission from the railways to carry out work within 30 meters of the railway network. Any trespassing will not be encouraged. The court has now granted status quo which means no work on the Metro can be carried out here for the present,” the officer adds with satisfaction.

RELATED ARTICLES

Urban crawl: Max speed 1.5 kmph While the BMRCL has its own take on the issue, those who are in a position to mediate between the two warring agencies have shown little concern for the city’s welfare. For instance, minister of state for railways, K. H. Muniyappa, who could have coordinated between the BMRCL and the railways, has done precious little to speed up the project.

The minister had promised to make sure the project did not meet with any more hiccups due to differences between agencies while flagging off Reach 1 in October last year, but has failed to keep his word. Despite being fully in the know about the tussle between the railways and the BMRCL, he has so far not convened even one meeting to amicably resolve the row. The result? The project remains entangled in legalities and is barely hobbling along, while the city remains dug up and dirty all along the Metro route.

Is govt asleep at the wheel?

The Metro Rail is also clearly suffering as a result of government apathy. Since launching Reach 1 between MG Road and Byappanahalli, the administration seems to have lost all interest in furthering the project. Engaged in a battle for survival, the government appears to have been left with no time to check the progress of vital infrastructure projects for the city.

Its fading interest is clear from its lack of initiative to persuade Dalit organisations to agree to the shifting of the statue of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar for the underground work on the Metro. While the BMRCL is stalling the tunnelling for fear of damaging the statue and wants it relocated to a safe place for the duration of its work on this stretch, Dalit leader, Mavalli Shankar says the technical report on the project makes no mention of the need to move the statue. “Why cannot the BMRCL change the alignment of the Metro to bypass the statue entirely?” he asks. The answer remains elusive as the government has failed to address such concerns.

Unfortunately, it is showing scant interest in other disputes dogging the project as well. “The failure of the state government in resolving the land dispute between BSNL and the BMRCL so close to the Vidhana Soudha, in Minsk Square, shows how disinterested it is in the project,” says RTI activist, S. Amaresh. Others point out that the administration took almost two years to resolve the legal issues at the soap factory, slowing down work on the Metro considerably in this area. Work near the factory and at Swastik is crucial to the completion of Reach 3.

The dispute with the railways over Metro work at STC is also hanging fire as the government looks on mutely, doing nothing to arrive at a compromise that could satisfy both parties. Paying for its apathy are commuters, who have no choice but to put up with traffic snarls on roads in the city as work on the Metro hobbles along.

  Indian Railways News  / Assam violence: NE rail route hit-India

Indefinite curfew has been imposed in Kokrajhar, Assam, three days after ethnic clashes broke out. The death toll has risen to 19 while 30 thousand people have taken shelter in relief camps. Trains services too in Kokrajhar have been disrupted after protesters came out on the railway tracks. Reportedly, the situation is tense but under control