Railway Budget – The Uttarakhand Mirage

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has presented a clever election year please all budget for 2013-14. His priorities include all the right things like safe operation of trains,  improvement in passenger amenities, safety and security, particularly for women and the differently abled; better catering on board trains and at stations; environment friendly initiatives; development of new dedicated freight corridors and strict financial discipline. Citing his ministry’s monetary crunch he has committed to provide for only 22 projects while promising to take up 24 others after obtaining necessary clearances for them from appropriate authorities.

In spite of financial constraints and the fact that our railway system is overstrained, he has   announced 106 new trains, increased the frequency 24, extended the run of 57 others and proposed 89 new surveys across the length and breadth of the country. This was probably inevitable as much of politics is played on this every year. And like most of his predecessors, Bansal has unabashedly allotted a disproportionately high number of 11 trains, besides setting up of a modern signaling equipment facility, to his own parliamentary constituency Chandigarh in a bid to ensure his victory in the next general elections.

Bansal has, cunningly, referred to all the railheads of Uttarakhand in his budget speech while giving a mere 3 new weekly trains, 1 daily passenger,  a minor extension and an extra weekly trip to the state. He has however, stated that he will pursue for approval of the nationally important Tanakpur - Bageshwar project, besides announcing surveys for doubling Dehra Dun - Haridwar  and Kotdwar – Najibabad lines.

A reply dated 6/11/2012 received from Railway Board in response to a query under RTI Act regarding the current status of some projects announced for the state in earlier budgets makes interesting reading. A survey for Dehra Dun – Saharanpur line, carried out by Satpal Maharaj during his stint as MoS for Railways with much fanfare in 1997, was shelved by Railway Board in 2000 after Rs. 4,20,000/- of taxpayer’s money had been spent on it. Kiccha – Khatima new line has not moved beyond the drawing board as our state government has refused to provide free land as per their initial commitment. Rishikesh – Karnprayag line announced with great enthusiasm in 2008 has not progressed beyond the survey stage. Laksar – Haridwar doubling is similarly languishing at the preliminary stage while up gradation of Harrawala station into a terminus has not been sanctioned at all.

Roorkee - Deoband new line, touted as a major project for Uttarakhand and which remains in the news off and on, was sanctioned in 2007-08 on 50:50 cost sharing with the state government. This project has progressed 20%, its estimated cost has more than doubled already, while it is still at the land acquisition stage. The project for development of facilities for running 18 coach rakes between Haridwar and Dehra Dun, also sanctioned in 2007-08, is merely 30% thorough. Lalkuan – Bareilly gauge conversion has been the only one that has been completed, probably because railways already had the land. It can thus be assumed that most of the new surveys announced this year will be of academic interest only.

Despite having six railheads, Uttarakhand in general and capital Dehra Dun in particular, is not adequately connected with the rest of the country. The malady lies not so much in the absence of services but in the fact that existing trains are mostly outdated and slow. While building infrastructure is time and cost intensive, new weekly trains are inadequate, also requiring the mandatory budgetary allocations and clearances.

Against this backdrop, the only possible solution for improving rail services in Uttarakhand lies in prudent management of existing facilities and improvements in the amenities already available, besides speeding up and rescheduling the existing trains.

Dehra Dun Mumbai express, for example, has been running on more or less the same time table since 1931. Having a scheduled halt every 18 kms, this grand old train is pitifully slow compared to all others on the Indian Railways network, consuming 12 hours between Dehra Dun and Nizamuddin which can be cut down to less than 8 like other express trains. It further needs to be speeded up by another 4 hours between Nizamuddin and Mumbai and rescheduled to depart from Dehra Dun around 7:00 PM, while its arrival time at Dehra Dun should be revised to around 9:30 AM, timings at Mumbai remaining unchanged. Its stoppages should also be reduced.

Bagh and Kalinga Utkal are among the other trains needing a relook at their schedules. LTT Haridwar AC express needs to be extended up to Dehra Dun and its journey time reduced by 4 hours by running it at Rajdhani speed. Timetables of other trains running in Uttarakhand can similarly be examined and restructured if necessary.

Dehra Dun railway station is currently equipped to handle short 13 coach rakes only. Older trains overcome this constraint by shedding and attaching some coaches at Haridwar. Newer trains to Indore (1200 km.), Howrah (1600 km.), Okha (1700 km.), Kochuveli (3500 km.), etc., however, do not follow this and run on short rakes throughout their journeys which puts a severe capacity constraint on them. It is suggested that all long distance trains add and detach extra coaches at Haridwar.

Such changes can be brought about quickly by simple resolutions passed by the Railway Board without any need for budgetary support. Our parliamentarians in New Delhi and state government in Dehra Dun can do us a great service by earnestly taking up these and any other similar suggestions with the appropriate authorities in Rail Bhawan and ensuring that these are implemented without delay. Will they oblige us? Or will they merely wait to see how many new surveys our state gets in the next budget!

(Published in Garhwal Post on 07/03/2013)

Citizens must extend support

The two ambitious drives, one to enforce road traffic rules and the other against the use of polythene bags, are currently on in Doon. While the officialdom needs to be acclaimed for their sincere efforts, though belated, it is the citizens who ought to support and adopt what is, ultimately, beneficial for all. But is this really happening?

There is a noticeable improvement in the city’s traffic since the ­present SSP initiated the campaign against law violators and rash drivers.  This has been possible only because a large number of police personnel are now posted at all traffic signals, major crossings as also better patrolling. It is observed that anarchy is back on the streets once the constabularies finish their duty for the day or are deployed elsewhere. While those following the rules are large in number, a handful of culprits spoil it for others besides putting all road users at a risk. A vast majority of these wrongdoers are men.

The crusade against polythene bags is interesting.  These bags first made an appearance in the country towards the end of the seventies and by the mid-eighties they had chocked the drainage systems of all our major cities, Dehra Dun included. It has, however, taken another three decades for our government agencies to launch a frontal attack on the menace here, earlier campaigns by Nagar Nigam and voluntary organizations notwithstanding. After official teams started issuing challans  and collecting fines from shopkeepers and customers, there has been a sharp decline in the use of such bags. While most shoppers, particularly women, have started carrying cloth or jute bags; and big shopkeepers have also changed over to paper bags; it is observed that it is business as usual for most vegetable and street hawkers the moment the raiding team turns its back, be it Karanpur, D.L. Road, Hanuman chowk or any other bazar.

Clearly, we Indians in general and males in particular are not willing to follow simple rules which should to come naturally to any populace that calls itself civilized. To make us obey a functioning traffic signal it has to be manned by a couple of cops. The city police have to be out in full strength to prevent us from behaving like cattle on the streets. City Magistrate has to be personally present to prevent us from using plastic bags which have been banned for our own good. The entire powers that be have to be mobilized to make us fall in line for the tiniest of the jobs.  And all this is happening in the heart of the capital of the second most literate state of our country!

That we are a nation of law-breakers is a sad commentary on us as inhabitants of one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Besides the family, a country’s social and educational systems have the duty to groom its children into virtuous, disciplined and compassionate future citizens. 

Ours obviously have some serious flaws which need to be identified and rectified urgently so that these are better equipped to discharge their responsibilities. Otherwise we will continue to demonstrate to ourselves and to the world that we are one big nation of unruly people.

Hopefully, the residents of Doon will continue to follow traffic rules and shun polythene bags even after the two drives are over.

(Published in Garhwal Post on 19/02/2013)

State’s first Woman MP?

The upcoming by election for Tehri parliamentary constituency on 10^th October is more or less a straight contest between the congress and the BJP. For the twelve other candidates saving their security deposits would be a major achievement.

That both the main parties have fielded candidates on the basis of their pedigree in a bid to perpetuate dynasties is a matter of serious concern. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna is hoping to do a “son rise” in Tehri, merely following the likes of his leader Sonia Gandhi, and others like Prakash Singh Badal, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, etc. In a strange coincidence the son of President Pranab Mukherjee is also trying to do likewise as the congress candidate from the Jangipur seat in West Bengal that was vacated by his father upon moving to Rashtrapati Bhawan. The explicit intention is to pass on these parliamentary seats by way of inheritance to offsprings as is done with personal assets.

BJP’s candidate is truly blue blooded, a member of the erstwhile Tehri royal family. Her father-in-law late Manvendra Shah, much adored and respected, was elected by people of this constituency a record number of eight times as their representative in the Lok Sabha. Mala Raj Laxmi is bidding to regain her family’s traditional seat in order to continue serving the people of her former empire. For the ordinary voter, making a choice between the two is a herculean task indeed.

Amid the dull and listless proceedings, nobody has thus far realized that the electorate of Tehri constituency is uniquely poised and just a step away from creating history. And this rare opportunity has been unwittingly provided by the BJP. This constituency has never ever sent a woman MP to the Lok Sabha. In fact the record of all the five parliamentary constituencies falling in Uttarakhand has been rather dismal. Together, these constituencies have sent 66 MPs to Lok Sabha so far and, with the sole exception of Ila Pant who won the Nainital seat in 1998 during UP days on a BJP ticket, no other woman has ever been elected from any of the other seats. To seize this wonderful chance all that the voters of Tehri have to do is to dutifully exercise their right to vote on the polling day.

Will the fact that history may be in the making motivate and galvanize the electorate of Tehri into action? Will the voters cut across party, gender, caste and religious lines to grab this prospect? Will women electors rally around one of their own ilk? Will the indifferent ones shake off their lethargy and walk up to their polling booths? Will the people take that one final step forward? Will Mala Raj Laxmi be the first woman to be elected to Lok Sabha after the formation of the state of Uttarakhand?

The outcome would be known on 13^th October. If the people’s verdict is indeed historic it may well be that catalyst our state needs on its road ahead.

(Published in Garhwal Post on 02/10/2012)