M A I N   N E W S

Severe storm in HP, snowfall in Srinagar

SHIMLA, Feb 14 — Several parts of Himachal, including the state capital, Shimla, were lashed by a severe storm today.

The storm blew off roofs of kachcha houses, boards and hoardings at some places and uprooted trees. Life was thrown out of gear as strong winds accompanied by occasional showers prevented people from coming out of their houses.

The sky remained heavily overcast and the storm brought about a sharp fall in the mercury, reviving the cold wave in the region.

The tribal areas of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi had another spell of moderate to heavy snowfall today, while the middle and higher hills of Himachal were lashed by a severe storm.

The tribal areas of Kinnaur Kaza, Keylong and Pangi have had intermittent heavy snowfall since this morning. As much as 15-59 30 cm of snow has been recorded in the higher areas of the tribal belt. The mighty Rohtang Pass, the Solang nallah, the sprawling Dhauladhar ranges, and the Churdhar and Chansal Pass also had heavy snowfall.

About eight inches of snow has accumulated at Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti district.

People groaned under intense cold in the tribal areas where the temperature hovered around minus 12 °C to minus 15°C.

The higher reaches in the Kulu valley had snowfall last night after a gap of about three weeks. The lower areas were lashed by intermittent rain. Hills around Manali had about two-feet snow. The entire valley was in the grip of a severe cold wave, a report from Manali said.

The upper reaches of the Srinagar valley, the holy Amarnath cave, Sheshnag and Mahaguns, the ski resort of Gulmarg and Khilanmarg and the tourist spots of Pahalgam, Sonmarg, Yusmarg, Achabal, Deksum and Kokernag in Jammu and Kashmir also had snow. — PTI

Major train disaster averted
by Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 14 — But for an alert technician, a major disaster could have occurred involving the morning Shatabdi Express (2011 Up) between New Delhi and Chandigarh today as the shackle pin of the first generator car was found broken.

The broken shackle pin was detected near Ambala. On board the train were a former Prime Minister, Mr Chandra Shekhar, and the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Suraj Bhan. The latter, however, alighted from the train at Ambala, where it remained for more than 45 minutes.

The train arrived here more than 45 minutes behind schedule.

It is not the first incident of its type. Some time ago an alert technician had detected a broken axle at Chandigarh railway station which was immediately replaced.

The damaged shackle pin was also, immediately replaced. It was detected by the technician while the train was entering Ambala Cantonment station.

Sources said the damaged pin could have led to derailment en-route.

Under the guidelines, it was the duty of the technical and maintenance staff at New Delhi railway station to conduct a thorough check of the underframe of the rake before clearing it for the journey.

Maintenance of the Shatabdi Express has been gradually deteriorating. Frequent travellers maintain that only “cosmetic” checking is done at New Delhi station as most of the coaches of older rakes of this prestigious train are used without the provision of proper basic facilities.

A major complaint of the travellers has been about the cell or mobile telephone facility on the train. Today, when the train was held up at Ambala Cantonment for more than 45 minutes, no one could use the cell phone available in the Executive class. The phone service has been erratic for more than a month now.

The cell phone service, the travellers complain, is not available for point-to-point calls. For example, they say, no mobile cell service is available on the train between Chandigarh and Ambala and vice-versa. Similarly, no service is made available between Narela and New Delhi and vice-versa. Even the quality of sound is not up to the mark.

Another complaint is that for the past one month, no toilet rolls have been available on the train. Most of the times, toilets remain without liquid soap.

These irritants apart, the travellers want that proper technical supervision should be done and the fitness of the train certified before it leaves on its journey.