Latest news with #Visakhapatnam-headquartered
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
South Coast Railway Zone's work set to gain steam with the appointment of General Manager
The appointment of General Manager for the Visakhapatnam-headquartered South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone has come as a big relief for rail activists, from the region, who have been seeking early operationalisation of SCoR, since it was announced more than six years ago, in February 2019. The Railway Board issued orders on June 5, appointing Sandeep Mathur, as General Manager of SCoR. While welcoming the development, trade union leaders opine there should be no further delay in the issue of a gazette notification on the zone. The gazette will give the boundaries of SCoR and the Railway Divisions under its purview. The Railway Board has already agreed to retain the residual portion of the existing Waltair Division, instead of merging it with Vijayawada Division as was planned earlier. One part will be merged with the newly formed Rayagada Division, under East Coast Railway (ECoR), and the residual portion of Waltair Division would be renamed and continued as 'Visakhapatnam Division' and the Divisional Headquarters will continue to be located in Visakhapatnam city. The work on construction of the 9 plus 2 storeyed SCoR Zonal Headquarters building, at Mudasarlova, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone in January, this year, has commenced. Meanwhile, the Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti buildings, constructed close to the Visakhapatnam Railway Station, are available for use by the GM, pending construction of the Zonal Headquarters building. The Prime Minister is scheduled to participate in the International Yoga Day event in Visakhapatnam on June 21. 'The gazette notification should be issued without any further delay. During his visit to the city, the Prime Minister should announce a date for operationalisation of SCoR, preferably from August 15, the day on which India attained Independence,' says Chalasani Gandhi, veteran trade union leader and a Member of the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC) from Visakhapatnam. 'A separate notification should also be issued for establishment of a Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) in Visakhapatnam, to conduct examinations for filling up of vacancies in the four Divisions – Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntakal and Guntur – under SCoR,' he says. Hailing the appointment of the GM, rail activists took to social media saying that the long-pending problem of SCR trains, coming to Visakhapatnam junction, being held by up ECoR, at the zonal interchange point at Duvvada, would be a thing of the past after the operationalisation of the new zone. Mr. Sandeep Mathur is likely to assume charge in Visakhapatnam in a few days, according to official sources.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Sandeep Mathur appointed General Manager of SCoR
The Railway Board issued orders on Thursday, appointing Sandeep Mathur, presently working as Principal Executive Director(Signal Modernisation), Railway Board, as General Manager of the Visakhapatnam-headquartered South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone. The rail users welcomed the move on social media. 'Big congratulations to all people of Vizag! A decade-long dream has come true. South Coast Railway gets its own General Manager. This marks a historic moment for our city and region. Vizag is on track for a bright railway future. Proud moment for everyone,' Raghuvamsi posted on 'X'. M.N. Sai wrote on a Whatsapp group: 'Kudos for us. Finally we have a General Manager... How many day will it take for S Co R to start?' This crucial appointment comes as a result of the persistent efforts of Visakhapatnam MP M. Sribharat, who wrote to the Railway Minister on January 21, 2025, urging the government to expedite development works related to the SCoR Zone by appointing a full-time General Manager. In his letter, the MP emphasised that a dedicated GM is essential to ensure swift progress and operational readiness of the new zone. 'A dream of Vizagites is finally coming true,' said the MP, expressing satisfaction over the appointment. He reiterated that the South Coast Railway Zone, with Waltair Division integrated, is already a reality. Visakhapatnam DRUCC Member Chalasani Gandhi, along with several railway union leaders and local stakeholders, conveyed their heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Sribharat for his proactive steps in this regard.
Hans India
5 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Sandeep Mathur appointed as GM of new railway zone
Visakhapatnam: Sandeep Mathur, who is currently serving as PED (signal modernisation) at the Railway Board, has been appointed as General Manager of the Visakhapatnam-headquartered South Coast Railway Zone. Visakhapatnam MP M Sribharat made persistent efforts to appoint a full-time GM for the new railway zone for quite a while. Earlier, the MP also wrote to the Minister of Railways urging the government to expedite development works related to the South Coast Railway Zone by appointing a full-time General Manager. In his letter, Sribharat stressed that a dedicated GM is essential to ensure swift progress and operational readiness of the new zone. Expressing satisfaction over the appointment, the MP said Vizagites' dream is finally coming true. He reiterated that the South Coast Railway Zone, with Waltair Division integrated, is already a reality, and assured that he is continuously working towards getting the gazette notification issued at the earliest. Meanwhile, Visakhapatnam DRUCC member Chalasani Gandhi, along with several railway union leaders and local stakeholders, expressed their gratitude to MP Sribharat for his proactive steps in getting the GM appointed for the South Coast Railway Zone.
The Hindu
18-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
40% of ‘India's largest, most advanced dredger' completed at Cochin Shipyard
About 40% of 'DCI Dredge Godavari', said to be India's largest dredger, has been completed at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), sources from the Visakhapatnam-headquartered Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCI) said on Sunday (May 18). The keel of the vessel, being built in collaboration with Royal IHC, the Netherlands, was laid in September 2024. As per the provisional schedule, CSL is likely to launch the vessel on July 20. This means that it will now start making the vessel ready for trial by installing the needed machinery. Once this is completed, the vessel will be ready for delivery to the owner (DCI-Visakhapatnam) for its operations. Once commissioned, the dredger would be the most technologically advanced dredger ever built in India. Built for DCI, this Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD), with a hopper capacity of 12,000 cubic metres, is a major initiative under the Government of India's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative, thereby increasing the capacities of all major ports in India as envisaged under the Maritime India Vision (MIV-2030). TSHD is a self-propelled ship designed to dredge materials from the seabed while sailing. It utilises a trailing suction pipe with a drag-head at the end to suck up material and transport it in a hopper. TSHDs are versatile and used for various projects like deepening waterways, land reclamation and port construction. 'About 40% of the construction work has been completed at the CSL-Kochi. The provisional commissioning of the vessel [will be done on] July 20, 2025. We expect the vessel to be handed over to us by December 2025 or January 2026. The cost of the vessel is around ₹950 crore,' a DCI official told The Hindu on condition of anonymity. The DCI Dredge Godavari will be a prestigious asset of the country and an important milestone in India's maritime capabilities, the official added. The keel for DCI Dredge Godavari was laid virtually by Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal in 2024. The event was also attended virtually by a team of Royal IHC of the Netherlands, a world leader in dredger design and construction, which provided design and technical support. 'The 127-metre-long and 28-metre-wide vessel is being built on the globally acclaimed 'Beagle' platform of Royal IHC. It is being customised to meet all Indian requirements and is expected to be a great help for the Centre's port-led development initiatives,' the DCI official said.
