Nov/19/2011

Metro Rail: promises galore and so are questions

CMRL Managing Director says that issues will be addressed by multi-modal integration study that is currently on

With the city well into its north-east monsoon spell, preparations are afoot at a feverish pace to commence work on the underground section of the Chennai Metro Rail project.

Full-scale construction is expected to start along the Poonamallee High Road by January, immediately after the monsoon comes to a close. Diaphragm walls, reaching to a depth of 22-23 metre below the ground level, have already started coming up at six locations – Washermenpet, May Day Park, Egmore, Nehru Park, Kilpauk and Shenoy Nagar.

All underground tunnelling and station construction work would begin only after construction of the diaphragm walls, which would prevent the soil on either side from collapsing. A senior official of Chennai Metro Rail Limited said that a team from CMRL carried out inspections of the Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) in China last month. Eleven such machines are expected to arrive at the Chennai port next month.

Traffic management plan

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sanjay Arora said that a comprehensive traffic management plan prepared for Poonamallee High Road and Anna Nagar would be put in place by January. “We are working on a plan for the Anna Salai stretch. Each location where an underground station is coming up has been treated as a ‘segment'.”

Of the 36 Metro stations, 20 would be underground and Mr.Arora said that each of those ‘segments' would have its own unique traffic plan that will be implemented in a staggered fashion as the construction progresses. Projections show that the average vehicular speed on arterial roads would drop by 6 kmph when underground tunnelling work begins. “Temporary footpath space or ramps would be provided for pedestrians,” Mr.Arora added. Though the city would have to live with traffic flow problems over the next two years, once the metro rail network is in place, it is expected to reduce journey time by 50-75 per cent, the CMRL official said. A passenger will be able to travel from Chennai Central station to Anna Nagar in just 14 minutes as against the 30 - 40 minutes that it takes now by bus. The travel time from Mannady in Georgetown to the airport in Meenambakkam would come down by as much as half. It would take 44 minutes by the Metro to cover the distance of about 22 km whereas it takes anywhere between 75-90 minutes by bus at present.

But even as the promise of a world-class public transportation system is being keenly awaited by the city's residents, there are several issues that have been left unaddressed till now which might determine the eventual success or failure of Metro Rail.

Experts say that the issue of pedestrian access has lacked enough attention despite CMRL's projections showing that 16,000 persons would come out on to Anna Salai each hour from proposed stations such as the one near LIC building by 2016.

CMRL Managing Director K.Rajaraman said that these aspects would be addressed by a multi-modal integration study that is currently on. “It would be submitted early next year to the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), which would be in a position to give appropriate directions to various agencies,” he said. There are also proposals to introduce feeder bus services along 23 routes from and to the stations.

‘Tunnel effect?'

Another facet highlighted even by the detailed project report prepared for the Chennai Metro Rail project is that in many sections of the elevated corridor, just 2-3 metres would be exposed to open air – creating a “tunnel effect”, darkening the entire arterial road below.

The report goes on to say that international experience shows such areas are highly prone to anti-social activity, crime and overall deterioration in urban environment (Example: Jackson Heights and Brooklyn stations in New York).

The proposed Metro fare structure (Rs.8-23) is also likely to change in light of the State government announcing a hike in bus fares. The Metro fares are to be arrived at as a multiple of that charged by Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) for its air-conditioned buses.

“The fare structure as of now is fluid. We will take a call based on energy costs,” Mr. Rajaraman said.

Stressing that the city cannot rely on the Metro alone to improve traffic conditions, N.S. Srinivasan, former director, National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, said: “The modal share of public transport may go up once the Metro Rail becomes operational, but the absolute number of private vehicles would still be a problem. Most arterial roads would still be congested.”

Chennai's future as a sustainable urban area looks bleak unless some major interventions are made on the urban planning front, he adds.

He added that a study is required to determine whether the Metro network, comprising two corridors, must be stopped with the existing 45 km under construction or extended further.

“Integration will prove difficult otherwise. For example, people would be expected to walk for about 1.5 km to interchange between the monorail and metro rail corridors at Kathipara junction. No one is going to accept it.”

Cut-off from debate

There is also a section of the city's population that has been completely cut off from the ongoing debate on the need to improve the quality of life of residents, of which the metro rail network is a symbol.

A.T.B. Bose of the North Chennai People's Rights Federation said: “I get angry when I see ongoing metro rail work in other parts of the city. Back in 2004, Tiruvottiyur-Airport was the first Metro corridor that was proposed. It was dropped in favour of a monorail network by the AIADMK government initially and the Tiruvottiyur link was overlooked by the next government because of additional costs. Now, we have neither monorail nor metro rail.”

What they say

K. Rajaraman, CMRL Managing Director:

About 70 per cent of the work on Stage-I (Ashok Nagar-Koyambedu-St.Thomas Mount elevated section) is complete. Operational trials are expected to start by 2013. Chennai's Metro system would be equivalent to those in existence in other parts of the world.

There are also plans to integrate metro rail with the proposed monorail network at Vadapalani and Kathipara, perhaps through skywalks. Certainly, both rail corridors will have to work together. CUMTA will ensure that this happens. That is the forum where all these issues of inter-linking and coordination will be raised.

K.P. Subramanian, former professor, Anna University:

The metro rail network is being built through arterial roads which are already serviced reasonably well by existing modes of public transport. Since it is a cost-intensive project, efforts have to be made to bring in as many passengers as possible to the stations through feeder services. The catchment area can be greatly increased if Bus Rapid Transit Systems were to be introduced, projecting out of Metro hubs. BRTS would cost only around Rs.10 crore per kilometre and it is an option that has to be seriously considered by the government.

M. Charles, suburban EMU commuter:

Chennai deserves a better train network. The Metro and Monorail should live up to the expectations of commuters, who now have no choice other than the crowded EMU trains. I have been travelling on the Beach-Tambaram EMU for 30 years to get to my workplace in Ennore. While I am happy with the frequency on the stretch, the Chennai Central-Gummidipoondi segment needs more services. That is my connecting train. More checks should also be conducted to keep compartments free of hawkers.

TNPSC systems may have been manipulated

The Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate attached to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology will investigate alleged manipulations in the computer systems of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC), highly placed police sources said on Friday.

Following information that computer software and applications were tampered with to facilitate irregularities in various recruitments, a team of cyber security experts from Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) made a surprise check at the TNPSC's computer centre here early on Friday.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the database and system control protocol of the TNPSC were very vulnerable and there was scope for manual intervention at crucial stages. It was decided to hand over the probe to the STQC and a formal requisition was sent to the Department of Information Technology in this regard, the sources said.

The computer centre on Greams Road was sealed after the check. “The information is that there was manual intervention to manipulate marks of some candidates and make changes in the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet evaluation. The use of forensic and cyber security tools will analyse the activity log and detect any such fraud. The STQC will also be asked to recommend foolproof systems for the TNPSC,” an investigator said.

In a related development, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Friday conducted simultaneous searches on the premises of 14 TNPSC officials, including its Joint Secretary Michael Jerad and Under Secretaries E. Sugumaran and Ravi D. Elangovan. Incriminating documents, including the unofficial list of selected candidates in certain recruitments, and hall tickets were found. The DVAC had registered a case against the TNPSC Chairman and 13 Members under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and IPC on October 14. The allegation is that the accused resorted to various malpractices, including accessing unpublished list of candidates selected for various posts. When TNPSC Secretary T. Udhayachandran, an IAS officer, refused to cooperate, the full Commission passed a resolution keeping him away from the recruitment processes.

The Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate attached to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology will investigate alleged manipulations in the computer systems of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC), highly placed police sources said on Friday.

Following information that computer software and applications were tampered with to facilitate irregularities in various recruitments, a team of cyber security experts from Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) made a surprise check at the TNPSC's computer centre here early on Friday.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the database and system control protocol of the TNPSC were very vulnerable and there was scope for manual intervention at crucial stages. It was decided to hand over the probe to the STQC and a formal requisition was sent to the Department of Information Technology in this regard, the sources said.

The computer centre on Greams Road was sealed after the check. “The information is that there was manual intervention to manipulate marks of some candidates and make changes in the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet evaluation. The use of forensic and cyber security tools will analyse the activity log and detect any such fraud. The STQC will also be asked to recommend foolproof systems for the TNPSC,” an investigator said.

In a related development, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Friday conducted simultaneous searches on the premises of 14 TNPSC officials, including its Joint Secretary Michael Jerad and Under Secretaries E. Sugumaran and Ravi D. Elangovan. Incriminating documents, including the unofficial list of selected candidates in certain recruitments, and hall tickets were found. The DVAC had registered a case against the TNPSC Chairman and 13 Members under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and IPC on October 14. The allegation is that the accused resorted to various malpractices, including accessing unpublished list of candidates selected for various posts. When TNPSC Secretary T. Udhayachandran, an IAS officer, refused to cooperate, the full Commission passed a resolution keeping him away from the recruitment processes.

AN-32 resumes operation to Vijaynagar in 

Arunachal Pradesh

            
Governor Gen (retd.) J.J. Singh inaugurates renovated Advanced Landing Ground there

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Gen (retd.) J.J. Singh accompanied by Air Marshal S. Varthaman, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, on Friday inaugurated the renovated Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) of Vijaynagar, a completely air-maintained and strategically located human settlement in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh and located at the tri-junction of India, Myanmar and China.

With the inauguration of the ALG, the operation of the transport aircraft AN-32 of the Indian Air Force — known as the workhorse of the IAF's transport fleet — to this inaccessible settlement also resumed after a long gap. Prior to suspension of the operation AN-32 in 2009 due to renovation work of the ALG, the IAF used to operate two civilian sorties every month from the Mohanbari airport in upper Assam's Dibrugarh district to Vijaynagar. In addition, there used to be three sorties a month for the Assam Rifles personnel guarding the strategic frontier. The old ALG was made up of Pierced Steel Plate (PSP) sheets and before every landing of an AN-32 the PSP sheets of the ALG needed to be fixed with wooden pegs which flew off as aircraft took off.

There is no road to Vijaynagar and no electricity for the over 6,000 population of the settlement that has 13 recognised villages and one unrecognised village. The only alternative to air transport is a six-day trek through a 157-km stretch of thick jungles through Namdapha, to reach Miao, the nearest town.

Changlang Deputy Commissioner Opak Gao toldThe Hinduthat after suspension of AN-32 operation, Vijaynagar was connected by helicopter service. However, due to suspension of Pawan Hans service in the wake of the helicopter tragedy in which the former Chief Minister, Dorjee Khandu, died, the helicopter service to Vijaynagar was also disrupted.

Alternative road

Mr. Gao said that the road from Miao to Vijaynagar through the Namdapha Reserve Forest was tried but the construction of the road was hampered by frequent landslips and disruption in supplies of construction material and equipment. “We are now trying to build an alternative road to Vijaynagar via Nampong which will be more than 200 km. The plan is that one Border Road Task Force (BRTF) company will be based at Nampong and will move to Vijaynagar and another BRTF company will be based at Vijaynagar and will move towards Nampong. ,” he added.

The colourful, little-known Lisu tribal people, who migrated from Myanmar in the 1930s, are the first settlers of Vijaynagar. The Nepali residents of this once ungoverned territory are ex-servicemen of the Assam Rifles and their families, settled there by the government of India between 1963-64 and 1970-71. An Assam Rifles outpost was opened in 1962.

Not for countering China: Air Chief

Staff Reporter from Bangalore writes:

The reactivation on Friday of the Vijaynagar airfield is part of a process to strengthen the infrastructure for increasing the accessibility to the northeast, and not for “countering” China, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne said.

He was talking to journalists on the sidelines of the inaugural of the 51st annual conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine (ISAM).

He said the airfield was too small to operate fighter aircraft. In addition to AN-32, C-130 transport aircraft would also be operated from the airfield in due course.

Asked about the plan to acquire six additional C-130J Super Hercules aircraft from Lockheed Martin, he said the process would be concluded by January. The Air Chief also spoke about the acquisition of two Israeli Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft. “The proposal has just come to us from Israel Aerospace Industries. That proposal is being examined, and we will be sending that to the Ministry [for approval],” he said.

Earlier, speaking at the launch of the annual conference, of which theme this year is ‘Aerospace Medicine: The road ahead–new horizons and new challenges,' he stressed the need to bridge the gap between doctors and aviators.

The Air Chief presented the Chief of Air Staff rolling trophy for first primary aerospace medicine course to Flight Lieutenant Chandrasekhara Guru and the Air Vice Marshal M.M.J. Srinagesh Trophy for securing first rank in the 48th Advance Course in aerospace medicine to Lieutenant Commander S.K. Verma.

MMRCA deal winner to be announced next month

The winner of the contract to supply 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) to the Indian Air Force will be known by mid-December, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters here, he said the winner of the Rs. 42,000-crore contract, touted to be India's biggest ever military supply deal, would be finalised by next month.

Two contenders remain in the fray: Eurofighter and Dassault's Rafale.

Asked whether there would be any cost-escalation, he said: “I can't tell you anything till the time we finish that work.”