Tag: Odisha Govt

Odisha: TPCODL takes measures to ensure uninterrupted power supply

Bhubaneswar: TP Central Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPCODL) has implemented several special measures to ensure uninterrupted power supply during the ongoing severe heatwave.

According to the forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) the company shall ensure uninterrupted power supply. In addition, the Company has nearly completed the network restoration work following the recent severe Kalbaishakhi spells.

The dedicated workforce of TPCODL has worked tirelessly day and night to restore power supply in all affected areas. The restoration efforts are being closely monitored by the Central Power System Control Center (C-PSCC) and divisional-level monitoring teams.

Majority of the impacted networks have been restored and TPCODL is actively addressing specific
localised complaints. Mr. Arvind Singh – CEO, TPCODL, shared these updates today during his meeting with the Chief Secretary of Odisha Shri Pradeep Kumar Jena, IAS.

To ensure reliable power supply and swift restoration in case another spell of Kalbaishakhi hits the area, TPCODL has deployed 7,700 ground staff and equipped them with poles, conductors, hydra and polemasters.

The Company has also deployed Aska lights for restoration work to continue at night as
needed. In addition to the above, 1,000 staff members are ready to be deployed during any exigencies. In response to the current situation, all leaves of TPCODL technical staff have been cancelled and the entire team is fully committed to serve the people in Odisha.

TPCODL has taken additional measures for restoration work, including coordination with the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and local administration for material transportation in river crossing areas through boats.

TPCODL remains committed to providing quality electricity supply to its consumers said the Company in a press release earlier today.

June 12, 2023
Man killed after being hit by bike in Odisha’s Malkangiri

Malkangiri: In a tragic incident, a man was killed in a road mishap in Malkangiri district of Odisha on Monday. The accident took place in the MPV 23 village under Kalimela Police station limits in the district.

The deceased man has been identified as Supad Sarkar of the village. The accused is said to be from the MV 115 village under MV 79 Police outpost limits.

As per reports, Sarkar was walking on the road to reach the pond of the village that is by the road side to take bath when he met the accident. A biker hit him and accordingly he was killed on the spot.

After getting information Kalimela Police reached the spot and initiated investigation. Further probe of the case is underway.

Earlier today an elderly woman died after being hit by a motorcycle in Odisha’s Balangir district. The accident took place in the Dhamandanga village under Kantabanji police limits of the district.

June 12, 2023
Odisha women win Senior National Rugby 7s Championship

Pune: Odisha women saw off Maharashtra in the finals of the 10th Senior National Rugby 7s Championship by a huge margin of 31-7, at Balewadi Stadium, here.

This Championship acts as a platform for players to showcase their talent as they look for a spot in the Indian team.

Odisha were hard to catch up with, even though Maharashtra showed a spirited effort during Saturday’s final. The semifinals leading up to the finale saw Odisha beat West Bengal 26-5 and Maharashtra beat Kerala 14-5 in their respective matches.

“We are happy to have won the championship, we played very well against Maharashtra and have worked very hard for the last 2 months at the state camp. I am very happy with the performance of my teammates,” said Mama Naik, Odisha’s Forward Prop.

Earlier, in the Junior Nationals, Odisha dominated Maharashtra girls by 52-0 in the finals.

Odisha beat their close competitors Bihar 22-17 in the semifinals whilst the other finalist Maharashtra beat West Bengal 29-5.

“Whether it’s gold, silver or bronze, all the junior girls and women have played extremely well and displayed some formidable talent. Congratulations to all the players. This is a big year for Indian Rugby — we have the upcoming Asian Games that we hope to participate in, the Asian Trophy as well as the Olympic Qualifiers in November.

And these Nationals are one of the events from which we will be selecting our national camp invitees for those three international tournaments. Well played to all and see a few of you at the National Camps!” said Rahul Bose, President, Indian Rugby Football Union.

The junior boys and men’s event will start from June 14 and will culminate on 18.

June 11, 2023
Heatwave condition to continue for next 3-4 days in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Heatwave to severe heat wave conditions are likely to continue in some districts of Odisha for the next three to four days, the regional center of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) here said in a bulletin on Sunday morning. After that, the temperature is likely to drop slightly.

While six places in the state experienced severe heatwave conditions, three districts experienced heatwave conditions during the last 24 hours.

The summer currents and above-normal temperatures experienced in various locations in the state during the last 24 hours areas are as follows:

Severe heatwave:

Hirakud: +7.2°C
Keonjhar: +7.1°C
Bolangir: +6.9°C
Jharsuguda: +6.6°C
Sambalpur: +6.5°C
Heatwave

Koraput: +6.0°C
Sundergarh: +5.9°C
Titlagarh: +5.5°C
Bhavanipatna: +5.5°C

June 11, 2023
Yet again, goods train catches fire in Odisha!

Balasore: A fire broke out in a goods train yet again in Odisha. A fire broke out in Jaleshwar under Balasore district of Odisha on Saturday.

This incident has been reported from Rupsa station of South Eastern Railway. A fire allegedly broke out while the coal-laden goods wagon was standing at the station.

While the cause of the fire is unclear, the Balasore Fire Department has reached the spot and is trying to douse the fire.

An investigation has been started by the railways as to how the fire started.

The passengers of the Durg-Puri Express were left panic-stricken near Khariar Road Station of Odisha’s Nuapada district on June 9, 2023 evening after a minor fire was reported in the train.

According to sources, the brake pads of the AC coach of Puri-Durg Express caught fire due to certain glitches in the brake shoe.

Trouble seems to have been mounting on the railway department as accidents in trains seem to have become frequent with each passing day.

The recent tragic three-train mishap i Bahanaga station of balasore district in Odisha still haunts people. It is worth mentioning that the incident that took place on June 2, 2023 (Friday) was gut wrenching and as many as 288 people lost their lives, more than 1000 were injured.

June 10, 2023
Casting Couch Slur Rocks Odisha Film Industry As Producer Sanjay Nayak & Actresses Prakruti & Jasmine Trade Charges; Check Chats

Bhubaneswar: Ghost of the casting couch returned to haunt Ollywood after WhatsApp conversations between actresses Prakruti Mishra, Jasmine Rath and other artists, in which they accused producer Sanjay Nayak aka Tutu Nayak of exploiting newcomers, went viral on Friday.

Sharing her experience, Jasmine told the media that she was thrown out of a project for refusing to meet Tutu Nayak at a club in Bhubaneswar. “I had a professional meeting with him about 4-6 months and he was worried how I would be able to manage dates since I was doing a serial and was under contract. They then asked me to join at a club. Since it was already 10 pm and I was shooting for Manoj Mishra’s ‘Hi Krushan’, I declined. My friend, who is also his relative, called to assure him that there would be no problem. He was also the associate producer of the show I was doing and was therefore managing my dates,” she said while responding to the producer’s press brief in which he alleged that she lacked professionalism and asked her boyfriend to contact him on dates.

Jasmine further alleged that this had hurt his ego and he went on a character assassination drive against her because of which she lost some more movies for which discussions were on.

June 9, 2023
Odisha Train Tragedy: School Doubling Up As Morgue To Be Reconstructed Under 5T Initiative

Bhubaneswar: The 65-year-old Bahanaga High School in Odisha’s Balasore district, where bodies of train accident victims were kept, will be completely demolished and reconstructed under the 5T initiative of the Odisha government, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced on Friday.

The decision was taken after Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena, 5T Secretary VK Pandian, and other concerned officials held meeting with Balasore Collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde, members of the school managing committee, panchayat representatives, teachers and students via videoconferencing to seek their opinion in this regard.

The demolition work started this morning in the presence of school managing committee members and Works Department authorities.

Students and teachers had expressed reluctance to attend school, where classrooms and the hall were used to line up the bodies, many of them disfigured, despite those being cleaned and sanitised by Fire Service personnel with memories of nightmarish experience of the tragedy deeply entrenched in their minds. With locals alleging that the rooms still had bloodstains at some places, the authorities feared that the school might see zero attendance once it reopened after summer vacation.

“Considering children’s mental health, a decision was taken in the meeting to demolish Bahanga Bazar High School and the primary and elementary schools in its vicinity. It will be developed into a model school under 5T initiative,” Pandian said.

Awareness programmes will also be conducted for the students to eradicate their fear regarding the building.

Notably, bodies of Bahanaga Bazar train accident victims were shifted to the school immediately after being retrieved from the mangled coaches. Those were later were relocated to a spacious building on the outskirts of Balasore town. Later the unidentified corpses were shifted to morgues in Bhubaneswar-based hospitals.

June 9, 2023
Salluja Is Odisha Cong Disciplinary Panel Chairman; Meenakshi Bahinipati Removed As Koraput Dist Chief

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the twins poll, the Congress on Friday removed Meenakshi Bahinipati, wife of Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, as president of Koraput district Congress committee.

Durga Sankar Sahu, who would replace her, is among the 10 new districts presidents appointed by the grand old party.

DCC PRESIDENTS

1. Nuapada – Suresh Kumar Ajad
2. Keonjhar – Mohan Parida
3. Puri – Jairam Pattanaik
4. Bhadrak – Ashok Das
5. Angul – Sangram Mishra
6. Sambalpur – Asif Ali Khan
7. Sundargarh – Danardan Dehury
8. Koraput – Durga Sankar Sahu
9. Rayagada – Bijoy Kumar Gomango
10. Deogarh – Sem Hembram

Last month, 12 zilla parishad members, block Congress presidents and the chairman of Jeypore municipality met state Congress president Sarat Pattanayak in Bhubaneswar, opposing any move to replace Meenakshi Bahinipati, stating that it could harm the party’s prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections, which are less than a year away.

Notably, reports of cracks in the Koraput unit of the Congress have been doing the rounds for quite some time. The alleged rift between the 4-time Jeypore MLA and debutant Koraput MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka came to the fore again when the former recently expressed his displeasure over his wife being inducted as a PCC secretary, as it suggested her removal from the post of district Congress president, and hinted at Ulaka’s role in it.

The Congress president also approved the proposal for appointment of Chairpersons of various committees, and constitution of the Disciplinary Action Committee of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, said a release issued by All India Congress Committee.

AICC Programme Implementation Committee
Jagneswar Babu – Chairman

Publicity and Publication Committee
Sanjay Tripathy – Chairman

Manifesto Committee
Panchanan Kanungo – Chairman

Disciplinary Action Committee
Santosh Singh Salluja – Chairman
Janaki Ballav Pattanaik – Convenor
Bhujabala Majhi – Member
Rajendra Chhatria – Member
Debendra Sahoo – Member
Pratima Mallik – Member

June 9, 2023
Foul smell at Odisha train accident site was from rotten eggs!

Balasore: The foul smell from the area that was emanating from the site of the Odisha train accident was from rotten eggs.

According to a team that had gone to the site the compartment was emanating foul smell due to rotten eggs, not because of human body.

Three tractors of rotten eggs were retrieved from the parcel van of the train said reliable reports. The foul smell is gone now, informed Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, CPRO, South Eastern Railway.

The people living near the Odisha train accident site are deeply traumatized said reports on June 7 (Wednesday). The scars of the accident are yet to heal.

There seemed to be a new reason for trouble for the local people as the foul smell emanating from the site of the accident was making it difficult for them to live there.

According to the locals, two coaches of the Yesvantpur Howrah Express still remain upturned at the accident spot and the foul smell emanating from them is unbearable.

The locals had further added that the stench from the coaches started after a spell of rain was experienced in Bahanaga, the station where the train crash took place.

The locals had requested the Government and the railway authorities to pick up and take away the coaches as early as possible. The locals say the smell is unbearable. It is difficult for them to live in their house or to eat food.

The locals had further threatened that if the foul smell from accident site continues and the administration fails to take any remedial measures, they will be forced to resort to protests and a strike.

It is worth mentioning that on the ill-fated evening of June 2, 2023 (Friday) three trains were involved in a gut-wrenching crash. In the tragic and one of the worst-ever train accident as many as 288 people died and at least 1000 others were injured.

June 9, 2023
After deadly train accident in Odisha, Railway Board issues detailed instructions on track safety

Bhubaneswar: Taking a lesson from the recent deadly train accident in Odisha, which claimed over 280 lives and left over 1100 people injured, the Railway Board has reportedly issued a detailed instruction on safety of the railway track.

Rooo Narayan Sunkar, the Member (Infrastructure) Railway Board, wrote a letter to the General Managers for regular maintenance of infrastructure in order to ensure safety and reliability of assets.

He said that the time-tested system for maintenance of track already exists on the railways. However, to emphasize safety during day-to-day working and while carrying out special renewal works, following instructions are reiterated for strict compliance:

Field officials who have been provided for maintenance activities must be utilized mainly for maintenance activities. Also, it must be ensured that they spend maximum time on maintenance and works sites.
JEs/SSEs are having knowledge about the shortcomings and the strengths of the assets under their jurisdiction. Sectional DENs and ADENs should speak to them and make out a comprehensive list of deficiencies with inputs from TMS and such interactions, with target dates required to improve safety. Each Zonal Railways shod have such division-wise list with PCE for monitoring the compliance. Summary of the items requiring compliance and action taken should also be advised to Railway Board, on weekly basis.
PHODs/HODs to carry out inspection covering all aspects of maintenance/worksite and guide JEs/SSEs for correct and sate execution of the work. They should also facilitate the field officials by ensuring availability of material, manpower and other resources.
Pending items as a result of joint point crossings inspection be complied in a time bound manner by arranging required material and traffic block. Team of operating, engineering and S&T officers be made to monitor the progress on daily basis till pending deficiencies are liquidated.
Focus of inspection should not only be to find out deficiencies but also to get these complied by helping/ guiding the field staff.
JEs/SSEs should be counseled and guided for not adopting any shortcuts while carrying out the work. It is the responsibility of Divisional and HQ officers to make JEs/SSEs comfortable in their working by providing all requisite assistance.
It is essential that adequate duration of traffic block is allowed as per demand. All necessary blocks required for maintenance and rectification of deficiencies should be made available by GMs, and DRMs on the Railways/Divisions. Any refusal must bear the express approval of DRM. It shall be ensured that the works required to be done under traffic block, as stipulated in IRPWM, mist be done under traffic block. Dip lorry, rail dolly works should be done with proper moving protection only.
The corridor blocks are sacrosanct and shall not require any separate approval. In addition, the works requiring additional duration of blocks/timing of block should be carried by planning mega blocks.
Integrated block planning should be made on weekly basis and DRMs should ensure that such block plan is followed on daily basis. the exception report shall be reviewed by GM on weekly basis and comprehensive summary shall be advised to Railway Board.
Senior officers are required to check the preparedness of works to be carried out in blocks and ensure availability of resources on the day of block working.
All worksites should be protected with necessary caution board, safety boards, TP, TG, banner flag and hand signal etc. Gauge face greasing at work site be ensured.
Necessary protocols while carrying out the work of deep screening, DS, TRR/CTR works to be followed so as to avoid any unsafe conditions senior officers of HQ should counsel all supervisory staff for this.
Works of doubling, tripling etc. being executed by project organizations should be regularly inspected by Open Line officials to ensure safe working and prevent infringement to track. While doing so, they should help and guide the project officials and constrictor staff.
The vulnerable locations such as points and crossings, SEJ, Bridges approaches of Girder Bridges require regular inspection and maintenance. Corrective action should immediately be taken on the deficiencies observed.
Senior officials should spend time in the field, carry out checks and guide JEs/SSEs to ensure proper USFD testing.
Monsoon precautions including cutting of vulnerable trees, boulder falling, cleaning of catch water/ side drains, preparedness of monsoon patrolling, placements of stationery watchmen at vulnerable locations should be also be undertaken by the railways. Monsoon reserves should also be made available.
Utilization of track machines for maintenance of tracks should be maximized by enhancing requisite safety blocks.

June 9, 2023