National
Goyal tightens reins on Railways, gives top priority to safety (Lead)
Mumbai, Sep 30 (IANS) Tightening the reins on the railway administration, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal here on Saturday announced a series of measures according topmost priority to passenger safety in the wake of Friday’s stampede which killed 23 Mumbai commuters.
Chairing a high-level meeting comprising officials of the Railway Board, top officials of Western Railway and Central Railway for the second day on Saturday, Goyal carried out a comprehensive review of the safety measures not only for the Mumbai suburban railways, but the entire Indian Railway network.
Among the decisions taken were to term foot overbridges (FOB), platforms and pathways on platforms as ‘Safety Items’ having highest priority with no budgetary restrictions.
This overturns a 150-year old edict in which the first FOB was counted as ‘essential’ and the subsequent one/s as ‘passenger amenity’.
For the next 18 months, the General Managers of all Railway Zones have been vested with unlimited powers for safety related issues, Goyal said.
The GMs shall intimate the Financial Commissioner (FC) within a week of sanction for provision and the latter would confirm it within 15 days, and in case of disagreements, the Railway Board would intervene and decide within the same 15 days.
While 200 officers from the headquarters would be deployed in the field to strengthen ground operations and project implementation, 75 bright and dynamic Station Directors shall be posted at key stations all over the country to bring vibrancy to the operations, he added.
“Additional escalators sanctioned at crowded Mumbai suburban stations with high commuter rush with details to be finalized within 15 days and thereafter for all high traffic stations,” the Railway Minister added.
For enhanced safety, eight railway yards shall be among 40 taken up all over India for upgradation with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, Goyal announced.
Within 15 months, work on installing CCTV cameras in all suburban trains in Mumbai with a monitoring mechanism will be taken up and parallel work will be initiated across India.
Goyal earlier ordered setting up of multi-disciplinary teams to visit and inspect all the 135 stations on the Mumbai suburban network and identify areas of concern, critical locations prone to similar (stampede) situations and draw up action plans to address them.
Ongoing works on foot overbridges at various stations would be completed on a war-footing and additional FOBs would be immediately planned out at other stations where passenger traffic is high.
The Western Railway and Central Railway have been directed to resolve within one week all their pending issues with other concerned agencies like Maharashtra government, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, City and Industrial Development Corporation, etc.
He also said that any concessions required to accommodate space constraints at railway platforms would be sorted out immediately.
There are around 135 stations on the entire suburban network, comprising WR, CR and the Harbour Line, spread across Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts, catering to over eight million suburban commuters daily.
The distances covered are upto 123 km on the WR from its starting point, Churchgate, and more than 70 km on the CR in different directions from the starting point Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.
The two networks share one common railway station, Dadar which is considered the busiest and most congested on the entire suburban network.
–IANS
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Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.
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