Monday, April 23, 2012

Wasteful Railway Projects for Delhi – Public Utility Commission



Honorable Prime Minister,
Dr. Manmohan Singh, CC to
Honorable Lt. Governor NCT,
Shri Tajendra Khanna.

Ø      Interstate Rapid Rail Projects for Meerut, Alwar and Panipat

Respected Sir,
Executive Summary: - 90% of Indian Railway Coaches are very old –60%+ have outlived their Useful Life and are ‘Reconditioned’ that serve over 50 million passengers every day COMPROMISING COMFORT and SAFETY. Delhi already have ‘Undesirable Delhi Metro Phases Built at over Rs.90,000 crores in today’s money but out of 2m, 1.5m commuters are served by Interstate lines’ – Delhi is committed to Waste Rs.40,000 crores on Phase 3 and now another Wasteful Rapid Rail Project may cost another Rs.60,000 crores. NCR may end up investing over 2,00,000 crores on most expensive Transport for middle class, poor and BPL.

Delhi Could Be World’s Best - But has Worst of Public Transport, Food and Milk Distribution in the world, Worst Water Supply & Open Sewage and Drains, Corrupt Municipality, Bad Law & Order, Bad Rent Laws-Consumer Courts, Bad RWA Roads, High Traffic/Accidents, Illegal Constructions and Encroachments, Substandard Communication, Worst Public Education and Worst Public Health Service and Electric Supply Is Erratic,– Power Cuts Even When Demand is 50% of Peak Load, Is Vulnerable to Floods – All Need High Priority Investments Than Metros.

Just Rs.5000 crores is Required to Operate Ring Railways and Interstate Rail Routes of NCR – Panipat, Meerut, Alwar, Shamli, Aligarh, Palwal; within 12 months to provide Cheap, Fast and Efficient Commuter Service. 

Delhi needs Public Utility Commissions –
Involve Citizens in Planning and Development.

DETAILS: -
When your government is going through political and financial crisis your problems are ‘Compounded by Eccentric Planning and Wasteful Projects. I have been commenting on Irrigation, Power, Dams, Transport, R&D, Financing, Farming, Consumer Issues and Technologies since 1980.

This 350km Rapid Transport project is most Eccentric of All.
Sir, Scrap Delhi Metro Phase-III and 350 Rapid Project and give me Rs.100,000 crores, within 12 months – Ring Railways and Interstate lines shall be operational at just Rs.5000 crores and all other SERVICES shall be Greatly Improved, Total TRANSFORMATION WILL TAKE 3 YEARS.

For example; My innovative Program is to ‘Triple Surgical Operations’ by Public Hospitals and let private Nursing Homes provide Post Operative Care. CGHS dispensaries shall operate Evening Shift for general public.

Many public services like Water, Power, Roads, Public Transport, Communications, Consumer Courts, Milk and Food Distribution etc can be IMPROVED in 12 months.  

Interstate Rapid Rail Projects – THE MOST ECCENTRIC

1.  Sarai Kale Khan – Meerut METRO: - Delhi already has Nizamuddin Railway Station just few hundred yards from Sarai Kale Khan Bus Terminus. Some Trains already operate between Nizamudin Station and Meerut. Railways already operate 29 Trains – more can be introduced.

2.  Kashmere Gate – Panipal METRO: -  Panipal is already well connected to Old Delhi station which is less than a kilometers from Kashmere Gate Bus Terminus – I had complain earlier also – Metro Line didn’t connect well with Bus Terminus and METRO at Old Delhi Station is 500m outside Railway Station. 42 Trains already operate between Panipat and Delhi.

3.  Dhaula Kuan to Alwar: - Dhaula Kuan Railway Station is just 500m from Dhaula Kuan ‘Unofficial Bus Terminal’. Alwar Line be served via Kirti Nagar & connected at Palam Railway Station to Indira Gandhi Airport.  

WHY ECCENTRIC & Loot Conspiracy - So shocking Rapid Railway Lines do not connect Ring Railway or even Nizamuddin Railway Station?

Average Delhi Metro Speed = 30 KMPH, Indian Railway = 60kmph
In above you can see average speed of Delhi Metro is 30kmph but average speed of Express Trains is 60kmph on Delhi Panipat section – actually over 80-100 kmph up Subzi Mandi station.

Ø      While passing through Euro Tunnel train speeds are reduced by half – London Underground average speed is around 30kmph but TGV and other fast surface trains run at over 250kmph average speed.

With third rail line dedicated for High Speed Trains or Goods Special Trains average speed could easily exceed 100kmph.
REMEDY: -

a.]  Scrap Delhi Metro Phase- III and Interstate Rapid Rail Projects.

b.]  Import 10,000 Double Decker Rail Coaches to replace old coaches.

c.]  Public Utility Commissions: -  Lt. Governor, CM, Mayor, Ministers, MLAs and MLCs should head Public Utility Commissions – Lt Governor may look after Major Projects, CM to look after public services, ministers to look after their own department related matters, MLAs and MLC their own constituencies.

Ø      Every Important ‘Petition or Complaint’ shall be heard like a Court and decisions conveyed the day of hearing or on second hearing.

c.]  Delhi to involve Citizens in Planning of Projects and Managing Public Services.

Rail/Road Transport Services: -

e.]  Delhi to operate Ring Railways and Connected services to NCR. (Goods trains be diverted through a new BYPASS Line at Shahdra – Baghpat- Samalkha Bypass Line, project leaving Ring Railway for passenger services.)

f.]  Delhi-NOIDA-Khurja Double Line to Bypass Ghaziabad.

g.]  Provide second or third line to existing rail sections.

h.]  Provide new Stations at Kirti Nagar, Safdarjung for Shatabdi and Originating Trains.

i.]  Interstate Buses to Operate on Ring Road and Terminals be located outside Delhi. Interstate Buses instead of terminating at ISBTs shall circle Ring Road and go back to their starting city. For example – Chandigarh–Delhi-Chandigarh buses shall make a round of Delhi in both directions and stopping at around 10 places on Ring Road.

j.]  Combine Sadar Bazar and New Delhi Stations in to Double Platforms to accommodate Two 25-30 Coach Trains on one platform.

k.]  Dismantle BRT and introduce High Capacity Double Decker Buses and Electric Tram Buses.

l.]  Introduce Standard, Mini Buses connecting Metro and Main Highways and Tata Magics or Electric Vehicles Within Congested Colonies and to replace Cycle Rickshaws.

m.]  All 40ft or wider roads declared ‘Public Roads’ open 24 hours for use of motor vehicles and emergency use, save fuel and traffic congestions. 40ft RWA Roads may operate one way and 50ft+ two way. This shall reduce pollution and congestion on main roads.

Thank you,

Faithfully,

Ravinder Singh*
Inventor & Consultant
Y-77, Hauz Khas,
New Delhi – 110016
*Ravinder Singh is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects.

TOI Report

Rapid rail to run underground in city
Network To Connect Capital With Major Suburbs Modified For Easy Travel
Dipak Kumar Dash TNN 

New Delhi: The rapid rail network to be laid as long-distance Metro trains connecting Delhi with its major suburbs with limited stops will go underground in the capital. There will be three hubs — Sarai Kale Khan for the Delhi-Meerut corridor, Kashmere Gate for the Panipat stretch and Dhaula Kuan for trains plying between Delhi and Alwar. 

    These three lines totalling over 350km have been taken up as priority by the Union urban development ministry. Though originally there was a plan to converge all three routes at the centre of Delhi, later modifications were made to have different hubs for different stretches for better traffic distribution. But at a meeting held recently under the chairmanship of Delhi lieutenant governor Tejendra Khanna, questions were raised whether having different hubs without adequate connectivity to the other terminus would serve any purpose. “What is the use of a transport system where people cover Delhi to Meerut in 70 minutes and then take another hour to travel from Sarai Kale Khan to Dhaula Kuan?” asked a government official. 

    So, now there is a modified plan, according to which the Alwar-Dhaula Kuan line will get extended up to Kashmere Gate. “This link will pass via the Sarai Kale Khan terminus, making swift transfer of passengers possible. The trains from Alwar will be extended up to Kashmere Gate for seamless transfer of passengers,” said a government source. 

    He added that all stations in Delhi would be underground. The Dhaula Kuan-Sarai Kale Khan-Kashmere Gate stretch will run close to the alignment of Ring Road. 

    Sources said that according to the plan prepared by the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB), there would be limited stops on these corridors for faster mobility. For example, the Meerut-Kale Khan corridor would have only two stops in Delhi —Anand Vihar and Kale Khan. The two stations would be at a distance of 10 kilometers. 

    However, there could be one or two stations between Dhaula Kuan and Sarai Kale Khan as this line would pass close to AIIMS. Thousands of patients from all parts of NCR visit the medical institute every day. 

    Officials privy to the regional rapid regional rapid transit system (RRTS) project said timely take-off of the work would ensure that DMRC was not overburdened with work to extend its network in NCR. “At present, Metro gets crowded by the time trains enter Delhi borders. Even now large section of local Delhiites is opting for private vehicles as Metro trains are overcrowded. Once we have these RRTS corridors operational, Metro trains would have space. More locals would shift to Metro trains,” said an official. 

    The RRTS project was conceived after an NCRPB study showed how Bulandshahr, Alwar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Sonipat, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Rohtak have been some of the key districts from where the capital gets maximum number of migrants. 

RIAMA SEN At MMTC Festival of Gold 2012 on Akshay Tritya

KABUL: Afghan and US officials have finalised the initial draft of a strategic partnership agreement that will govern relations between Kabul and Washington after 2014, a presidential statement said Sunday.
"The draft agreement on Afghanistan and US long-term partnership was finalised and initialed on Sunday in Kabul by the heads of the two negotiating delegations in Kabul", a presidential statement said.
"The agreement is now ready for signature by both the Presidents."
No details were released of the content of the draft agreement, which will now be reviewed by the US and Afghan presidents, the US Congress and the Afghan parliament.
The 130,000-strong US-led NATO force helping the Afghan government fight a decade-long Taliban insurgency is due to end combat operations and pull out by the end of 2014 and the two countries are in talks about their future relations.
Kabul has already achieved two preconditions for signing the treaty -- full control over the US-run Bagram prison and controversial special forces night raids against Taliban insurgents.
But the agreement will not cover the crucial issue of the status of US troops remaining in Afghanistan after the withdrawal. The issue will be discussed after the strategic partnership deal is signed, according to the US embassy.
In Iraq, Washington pulled out all its troops, leaving no residual force, after failing to get Baghdad to grant its soldiers immunity from prosecution in local courts.
In Afghanistan, anger over the murderous rampage last month by a US soldier who allegedly killed 17 Afghan villagers in their homes at night before being flown out of the country, has complicated negotiations.
US ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and Afghanistan's national security adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta agreed on the wording of the draft, titled "Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement between Afghanistan and the United States".
"The document finalised today provides a strong foundation for the security of Afghanistan, the region and the world and is a document for the development of the region", Spanta was quoted as saying the statement.
The US ambassador said in the statement that the agreement will cement a long-term strategic partnership between "two equal and sovereign States".
He said his country was committed through the strategic partnership document to doing its utmost to assist Afghans and to help Afghanistan develop as "a unified, democratic, stable and secure state."
Afghan forces are now in control of night raids and the main US prison is in the middle of a six-month transfer.
Night operations by international special forces against insurgent hideouts had triggered popular anger and were a key factor fraying Washington and Kabul's relationship.Afghanistan and the US signed a deal on April 8 putting local forces in control of the raids, but with the option of requesting NATO support.Afghan commandos have been conducting regular night raids since taking responsibility for the controversial operations from their NATO mentors.

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