RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Meridian Surveys of Chennai team coming today

KOCHI: The Meridian Surveys of Chennai, appointed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the peg-marking of stations and boundaries of the KochiMetro Rail, will arrive in Kochi on Saturday. The survey team is coming for relocating the boundary of the Elamkulam station. Earlier, the team had laid the boundary stone for the station in front of theFathima Matha Church. However, the authorities of the Church and the people's representatives demanded the relocation of the station. Earlier, the boundary stones for different stations and boundaries of the Metro Rail, except in Ernakulam village, had already been laid by the survey team. There will be 24 stations en route the Metro Rail passing through the seven villages of the district- Aluva West, Edapally North and South, Thrikkakara North, Ernakulam, Elamkulam and Punithura villages. The district administration and the survey team could not do any work related tothe Metro Rail project on the MG Road due to the protest of the traders, who demanded the redesigning of the alignment of the project. However, the DMRC, the consultant of the project, and the state government reiterated that there would not be any change in the alignment and it would gothrough the MG Road. Land acquisition The State Government sent back the file submitted by the district administration for acquiring land for the Kochi metro rail project under urgency clause. The district administration had submitted the file to the State Transport Departmentfor getting the approval. However, the State Law Department said that it was the State Land Revenue Commissioner, who has the authority to sanction the urgency clause. The Revenue Department can start land acquisition only after including the land acquisitionunder the urgency clause.The district administration had earlier issued 6(1) notification in Aluva West, Thrikkakara North, Edapally South and North, Ernakulam, Elamkulam and Punithura villages for acquiring the land. The survey work has already been completed except on MG road. The State Government recently had demanded a detailed report on the actions taken by the district authority in connection with the land acquisition of the metro rail project.The district administration officials said that they would soon submit the fileto the State Land Revenue Commissioner.

Central station CCTV nets its first suspect

Youth caught fighting over a bag containing money he had stolenUNDER THE SCANNER: A CCTV camera at Central Railway Station.

CHENNAI : A 19-year-old youth earned the dubious record of becoming the first suspect to be apprehended with the help of CCTV cameras installed less than a week ago at Chennai Central railway station. According to Government Railway Police sources, Saghar alias Sunilof Goothi Village, Ganapur Taluk, Maharashtra, was trying to flee with Rs.1 lakh in cash that he had stolen from a jewellery-cum-moneylender's shop in Villupuram where he was employed. The police said he escaped with the cash from the shop on Tuesday and had come to Chennai on Friday night to board a train to Maharashtra. Suspecting Saghar to have stolen the money, the jewellery shop owner, Suresh, and a few other employees came to Chennai. One of theemployees, Kathirvel, traced the accused at the station andconfronted him. "Around 1.30 a.m. on Saturday, we spotted on the CCTV monitors inthe control room two men fighting over a bag on platform number 6. The beat constable was alerted and he soon caught hold of the twopersons. During questioning, we came to know about the case in Villupuram. Saghar confessed to have stolen the Rs.1 lakh from his employer," said P. Kanthavel, Inspector of Police, GRP, Chennai Central. Police recovered the cash and a mobile phone from theaccused. S.N.Seshasai, Deputy Inspector-General, Railways, told 'Railway Samachar' that the installation of CCTV cameras in key locations at Chennai Central, including at the entry and exit points helped. "We will continue to monitor all the platforms round-the-clock on the CCTVs. It would be in addition to the patrolling by our personnel tocurb criminal activities on the station premises," he said. Superintendent of Police Railways S.Manoharan said the installation of the cameras was part of the measures to ensure safety of passengers and their belongings. Railway police intend to put inplace additional measures to strengthen security at railway stations. The CCTV network, which includes 39 cameras and a modern controlroom, was commissioned on February 3.

NFR : DHR : Museum on old tracks

Museum on old tracks- Plan for meter gauge

Siliguri : The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) has taken an initiative to set up a meter gauge heritage museum at the Siliguri Town station, where the first train here chugged in 1878. The station, which was once famous for its meter gauge tracks and the sole linkof the Northeast with the rest of the country prior to Independence, has almost slid into oblivion. The move comes at a time when the entire railway track in the city is beingconverted into broad gauge. 'This place has a historical significance. It was here that Siliguri receivedits first steam engine train from Calcutta via East Bengal travelling on metergauge. But once the Siliguri Junction and the New Jalpaiguri stations came upwith broad gauge lines, the Town station lost its importance. All the tracksthat run from this station have been converted into broad gauge and there will be no trace of meter gauge lines in the next few months. We just want topreserve some relics of the meter gauge tracks,' said Subrata Nath, thedirector of the DHR. Siliguri Junction-Aluabari section, the only meter gauge track at present, too,is being converted into a broad gauge line.A report finalised by the DHR detailing the significance of the meter gaugetracks will soon be placed before the Northeast Frontier Railway headquarters in Maligaon. 'We have spoken to MP Saman Pathak and he has assured us that he will take upthe matter with the appropriate quarters. We will approach the state departmentof tourism and culture for necessary assistance,' said Nath. He added thatartefacts not less than 50 years old would be put on display at the museum.