KRISHNA CANAL

प्रेस विज्ञप्ति/ Press Release No. 197  Dt: 18.08.2020

SHRI ARVIND MALKHEDE, DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGER CONDUCTS PRESS CONFERENCE THROUGH VIDEO LINK

Shri Arvind Malkhede, Divisional Railway Manager of Hubballi Division conducted a press conference today o­n 18.08.2020 to brief about the various achievements and good works done by the Division during COVID period through video link. Smt. E. Vijaya, Deputy General Manager and Chief Public Relations Officer was also present in the press meet.

Shri Arvind Malkhede said that during the lockdown, though passenger train services were cancelled, goods trains and parcel trains continued to run.  Railway staff like guards, loco pilots, maintenance staff, control staff and others contributed immensely in ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential commodities across the country during lockdown.  Hubballi Division has distributed groceries to coolie porters, daily wage labourers and needy people during lockdown.   It has also distributed more than 76 thousand meals to the needy during lock down.  Hubballi Division has handled  188 rakes of fertilizers equal to 47 lakh quintals and  230 rakes of food grains equal to  57 lakh quintals during this period.

Hubballi Division has run 21 Shramik Specials carrying 30 thousand migrant workers and overall SWR has run 267 Shramik Specials enabling 3.9 lakh migrant people to reach their home.  He said that the Division has manufactured 15,397 face masks and 6090 litres of hand sanitizers for the use of railway staff.   Hubballi Division has converted 35 ICF coaches in to Isolation coaches for COVID patients.  Overall in SWR 320 coaches were converted as Isolation coaches, he said.    o­n a question from the media about utilization of these coaches for COVID patients, he said that the COVID care coaches will be provided upon request from the state government/district administration. o­n a question about resumption of passenger train services, he said that decision in such matter will be taken by the Ministry of Railways in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Health. 

Many major works have been completed during COVID period. Remodeling work of Hosapete, a major yard for train operations, has been completed during the COVID period. Yard remodeling has enabled simultaneous reception/dispatch of trains from both directions. This gives flexibility in train operations. Another major work completed by Hubballi Division during COVID period is Kudgi Canal Crossing work of Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigam Ltd. (KBJNL).  This has enabled in irrigating 1.66 Lakh hectares of land and benefitted large number of farmers. Lachyan-Hotgi (33 Km) doubling with 670 m long Bhima Bridge has been completed during the period.  28 Km new line between Gangavati and Karatagi has also been completed.  Hubballi Division has taken up speed enhancement work over the division.  Sectional speed between Majorda and Vasco Da Gama is increased from 75 KMPH to 100 KMPH. Permanent Speed Restrictions have been removed at six locations over Hubballi-Londa section by carrying out upgradation works.  Speed between Ghataprabha and Chikkodi road station has been enhanced to 110 KMPH.

 Doubling works are going o­n in full swing. 16.39 KM doubling between Unkal and Dharwad is expected to be completed by September 2020.   Doubling work is going o­n in various sections.  The doubling work of Gadag to Hole Alur is expected to be completed by January 2021. Doubling between Chikkodi Road-Kudachi is likely to  be completed by December, 2020.  He said that station redevelopment works are being taken up in the Hubballi Division.  Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Dharwad, Belagavi, Hosapete station buildings are being reconstructed.  A new goods shed at Khajjidoni is being developed.  New Goods Shed at Navanagar in Bagalkot, Aliyabad in Vijayapura are also being constructed.  Electrification work between Kariganur-Harlapur is completed. 

He said that Business Development Unit has been set up in the Division to capture additional freight. The BDU has conducted 10 meetings through Video Conference and direct meetings so far. As a result the Division has been able to get new stream of traffic viz., Bauxite, Metallurgical coke, fly ash, pig iron and rice.  o­n the occasion, Shri Arvind Malkhede highlighted about various incentive schemes offered by the Railways for freight customers.   He said that for round trip freight loading, i.e. if a consignor commits to transport ‘A’ class goods in a particular direction, and ‘B’ class goods in the return direction, the consignor will be offered a discount. Similarly, concessions are also being given to short lead traffic, long lead traffic and traffic in traditional empty flow direction. 

                                                                                           Chief Public Relations Officer

                                                                              South Western Railway, Hubballi

Honble Minister of State for Railways, Shri. Suresh Angadi today inaugurated a host of “Innovations/Technology adoptions by Signalling &Telecommunication(S&T) Department, Southern Railway, viz.,

·“RailMitra- A Covid Warrior” & “Solid State Automatic Signalling System” developed by S&T workshop, Podanur.

·New Installations of “Siemens EI (Electronic Interlocking) System & “Online Examination Module” in S&T Training Centre, Podanur.

·High availability Short-haul Circuit with SDH(Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) in Salem-Omalur section&Implementation of IP/MPLS(Internet Protocol/ Multiprotocol Label Switching) in Arakkonam-Tiruttani Section

·Laying of OFC Cable using Blown Fibre Technology” for the first time in Indian Railways

Ø“RailMitra- A Covid Warrior”:It is microprocessor based robot which will avoid direct contact with the covid patients by Serving them the essential treatment medicines, food and water etc., It has sensor based automatic sanitizer dispenser,contactless body temperature measuring system,facility for the collection of used plates, bottles, masks etc. from the patients into its UV chamber, facilitate video interacting and communication with patients through the IP camera and microphone.

Ø“Solid State Automatic Signalling System”:It is modern Micro controller based automatic signaling system.It will make faster installlation of  automatic signalling system & improve the reliability.

Ø“Siemens EI system installation in Training Centre”:  will facilitate the hands o­n training o­n the latest Electronic Interlocking.

Ø“Online Examination”:It will enable the conducting of mandatory examination of safety courses even in the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic without physical presence of the candidates.

Ø“High availability Short-haul Circuit with SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) in Salem-Omalur section & Implementation of IP/MPLS(Internet Protocol/ Multiprotocol Label Switching) in Arakkonam-Tiruttani Section: It will improve the reliability of the of the communication system in Salem-Omalur section with improved protection.

Ø“Adoption of Blown Fibre Technology” It will improve performance of the optical fibre communication & will reduce installation cost..

The inaugural programme was followed by an International Seminar o­n “Challenges and Solutions inadopting emerging Technologies in Railway Signaling& Telecommunications” under the aegis of IRSTE (Institute of Railway Signal & Telecommunication) Southern Railway chaptertoday. The webinar was webcast live o­n the internet for the benefit of a wider audience.

Shri Pradeep Kumar/Member S&T/Railway Board participated in the webinar and addressed the virtual gathering from New Delhi. It covered all aspects of Signalling &Telecommunication subjects which are trending in the present scenario. He also shared that Railways has decided to use indigenous technologies as far as possible. He also mentioned as to how TCAS (Train Collision & Avoidance System) will make the journeys of passenger more safe. He also shared the information that Indian Railways has decided to go ahead with the installation of ETCS(European Train Control System) level -2 o­n the prototype sections.

Shri John Thomas, General Manager/Southern Railway participated in the Webinar and addressed the virtual gathering. Speaking o­n the occasion he lauded the Signal and Telecommunications Dept for the good work done by the Dept. He praised Railway Hospital ,Perambur for the excellent works being done by Doctors & Paramedical Staffs in treating Covid-19 patients. He was happy that Rail-Mitra Robot will help these Covid-19 warriors to keep themselves safe & healthy.

In his welcome address Shri R.Baskaran, Principal Chief Signal & Telecommunication Engineer said that he was happy that S&T workshop/Podanur could complete the production of Rail-Mitra Robot and Solid State Automatic Signalling system design in a record time of two months.He further brought out the salient features & the advantages of the new technologies which were inaugurated today.He stated that process of such innovations will continue further.

The webinar covered all the aspects of Signalling & Telecommunicationtechnologies. The subjects covered in the webinar were:-

·Indigenous Cab Signalling ATP System-TCAS”  by Shri. Lalit Mansukhani, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Madurai,

·Way forward for implementing Traffic Management System / Centralised Traffic Control in Chennai Division” by Shri.D. Sunil, Chief Signal Engineer-II, S Rly

·Multi-section Digital Axle Counter” with inbuilt multiplexer – Benefits for AutoSignaling Application” by Shri. Rajganesh, Manager/R&D, M/s.GGTronics,

·“Importance and Criticality of o­n-Board Long Term Evolution (LTE) Modem” by Shri. David Rothbaum, M/s. Ericsson AB.    

·Implementation of IP-MPLS (IP Multi Protocol Label Switching)  based network over Southern Railway” by Shri.S.Selvadurai, Chief Communication Engineer/ S Rly

·Blown fibre technology” by Shri.Bill, Director, UK & Shri.Santosh Natarajan, M/s.Hayle Communications, Coimbatore, Coimbatore.

·Strategies for a robust, secure and manageable IoT (Internet of Things)  implementation for Predictive maintenance of Railway Signaling& Telecommunication Systems” by Shri.Take Aanstoot, Chief Technology officer, Modio AB, Sweden    

·“RailMitra” by Shri. P.V. Murali Krishna, Chief Workshop Manager, Podanur S&T Workshop

·“Solid state Automatic Signalling system” by Shri. P.V. Murali Krishna, Chief Workshop Manager, Podanur S&T Workshop & Shri. G. Gowrishankar, Head R&D Electronics, Vasantha Advance Systems, Coimbatore

·“Online Examination Module in Training centre/Podanur”  by Shri. P.V. Murali Krishna, Chief Workshop Manager, Podanur S&T Workshop & Shri. Yeshwanth Balakrishnan, Founder PAPERZ, Coimbatore

B. Guganesan

Chief Public Relations Officer