South Western Railway implements measures for effective crowd management
Bengaluru, Oct 28: The South Western Railway (SWR) has implemented measures to ensure smooth operations across the Hubballi, Mysuru, and Bengaluru divisions, in view of increased passenger traffic during the Deepavali festival, officials said on Monday.
A total of 55 trains are scheduled for the benefit of passengers during Deepavali and Chhath festive season, they said.
According to SWR officials, for regular trains extra coaches are also augmented based on the heavy waiting list trains to clear the rush.
Officers, Commercial staff and Scouts and Guides volunteers along with Security personnel are deployed during this rush hours to control the crowd at all major stations like, Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vasco Da Gama, Gadag, Hosapete, Ballari, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, KSR Bengaluru, Yesvantpur, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Bengaluru Cantt., Mandya, Hassan, Davangere and other railway stations across SWR.
"Increased the presence of RPF (Railway Protection Force) to maintain order and security, especially during rush hours. Security was significantly enhanced with the installation of additional CCTV cameras and baggage scanners. Extra lighting and backup power supplies are also arranged to ensure safety during peak hours and to handle any potential technical disruptions," the SWR said in a statement.
Temporary help desks have been set up to assist passengers with ticketing, directions, and schedule information at all major stations of SWR, it said.
Among other measures -- additional ticketing counters have been provided to clear the extra rush, queue managers are deputed at booking counters and at the general coach entrances to ensure that passengers obtain ticket and board the train in orderly manner, first aid box availability and ensure medical staff are on standby in case of health emergencies due to crowd pressure. Medical booths along with
SWR will temporarily add additional AC 3-tier coaches to some trains, they added.
"Additional Ticket checking staff are being deployed at the stations so as to guide the passengers about the availability of the special trains. Additional signage/Time table boards were installed across all platforms to guide passengers efficiently to Foot Over Bridges (FOBs), escalators, restrooms, and platforms. This improved navigation and reduced confusion among the large crowd," the statement added.
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HC to decide if gram panchayat members can continue in Manipur post tenure: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday said the high court would decide whether the elected gram panchayat members, whose five-year tenure was over in Manipur, were entitled to continue in their posts in the event of the appointment of an administrative committee or an administrator.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said it would like to have the benefit of the view of the high court in the matter and set a three-month time frame to adjudicate the legal question.
"The question that falls for consideration in this case is that whether the elected member of the Gram Panchayat whose five-year tenure is over was entitled to continue as members of the gram panchayat in the event of appointment of administrative committee or administrator, as contemplated under Section 22 of the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act of 1994," the bench noted.
The Manipur government’s counsel said the state could not hold panchayat elections due to the unprecedented violence.
"Since, we would like to have the advantage of the opinion of the high court, we dispose of the special leave petition without expressing any opinion on merits, with the request to the chief justice of Manipur High Court to post the main case before a division bench at the earliest. We further request the division bench, before whom the matter is listed, to provide expeditious hearing with an endeavour to resolve the controversy within three months," the bench said.
The bench noted that provision of Manipur Panchayati Raj Act was amended to substitute the word "cease" with the word "continue" with respect to the tenure of the elected members of the gram panchayat.
The petitioners have challenged a high court order and submitted that since elections in gram panchayat could not be held in Manipur for various reasons, the previously elected members of the panchayat were entitled to continue as per the amended Section 22 (3) of 1994 Act.
Section 22 deals with the power of deputy commissioner to appoint an administrative committee or an administrator for a period of six months, which will then oversee the election.
Section 22 (3) of the law says once the administrative committee or an administrator is appointed by the deputy commissioner, the elected members of earlier gram panchayat shall cease to exist.
The top court said what has been challenged before it was an interlocutory order of the high court and the main petition in which the question of law that had been raised was still pending.
The original petitioners before the high court were elected representatives at the fifth general elections for gram panchayats and the zilla parishads who sought a direction to continue in the office beyond the period of five years as stipulated by law as elections were last held in 2017.
They sought to continue as panchayat members till the time the state election commission notified the election for the sixth general elections for gram panchayats and zilla parishads.
On February 29, last year, the high court in its interim order gave liberty to Manipur government to appoint an administrative committee for each gram panchayat and zilla parishad in accordance with law and the provision of the Act.
