R.K. Kulshrestha (right), General Manager, Southern Railway, inspecting the Salem Railway Junction on Friday. Hari Shankar Verma (left), Divisional Railway Manager, is also in the picture. | Photo Credit: E. Lakshmi Narayanan more-in General Manager of Southern Railway R.K. Kulshrestha has said that the ongoing protests over Cauvery issue have disrupted operation of trains, but not adversely. Addressing mediapersons during the annual inspection at Erode Railway Junction on Friday, he appealed to all not to stop the trains or climb on it and protest. Time is precious and everyone should cooperate for smooth operation of trains, he added. Speaking at Salem, Mr. Kulshrestha said the Southern Railway will take effective steps to prevent people from climbing atop trains during agitations by political parties. He told presspersons during inspection of the Tirupathur – Salem – Erode section on Friday that the incident of a youth who came into contact with a live wire while taking part in the Cauvery Management Board agitation in Tindivanam Railway Station was very unfortunate. The Railways has already taken all precautionary measures through the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to prevent people from gate-crashing into the railway station premises. It will take steps to create awareness on how trespassing into the railway premises affects travelling public. The Southern Railway will take steps for barricading the railway station premises to prevent such tragedies in future. In Salem, the General Manager added that the Railway Board has allotted adequate funds for the commissioning of the closed-circuit television cameras in 136 railway stations in the Southern Railway limits under the Nirbhaya Fund to prevent crimes, particularly against women. Replying to a question, Mr. Kulshrestha said that based on its experience of last year, the Southern Railway has taken all effective steps for getting adequate water for the watering of trains. Due to this, there will be not be any problem on the water front this year. Discussions were held with officials to ensure “zero accidents” in the division in the coming days, he said. Earlier, Mr. Kulshrestha conducted inspection of Tirupathur – Salem as part of his annual inspection of divisions of Southern Railway. He was accompanied by the heads of various departments of Southern Railway, Hari Shankar Verma, Divisional Railway Manager, Salem, and his team of officers and staff from Salem division. He released a technical diary for the overhead electric traction staff on maintaining the 25 kVA electrified sections in good condition and the safety seminar calendar for the electrical overhead maintenance staff for safe working in electrified lines and minimise electric related rail mishaps. Students of Department of Computer Science and Engineering of Sona College of Technology had developed a CLI monitoring app and web-based portal to help Chief Loco Inspectors of the division to monitor the crew and their performance. Mr. Kulshrestha launched the app and the portal at Erode. Staff Reporter adds from Coimbatore: Meanwhile, senior officials attached to various departments of the zonal office of Southern Railway conducted inspection at Coimbatore Junction on Friday. Officials attached to signals, electrical, tracks and safety conducted inspection for over an hour. They checked the tracks and took random measurements of the tracks at a couple of spots, inspected the control panel at the office of the Station Manager, electricity sub-station and other safety measures at the junction.

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