Activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India and residents of Padil and Bajal staged a demonstration at Kankanady railway level-crossing on Monday against the delay in constructing a road under bridge (RUB) at the busy level crossing near Mangalore Junction railway station.
M. Ahmed Bawa, a former member of Palakkad Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, Southern Railway, and resident of Padil, said the Railways has not taken up the RUB work as the Mangalore City Corporation has not completely deposited its share of Rs. 2.48 crore of the total project cost of Rs. 4.96 crore.
He said that as per information provided by the Southern Railway under the Right to Information Act in July, the corporation has deposited Rs. 2.28 crore, which was Rs. 19.39 lakh short of its share. The process of getting approval of the Commission of Railway Safety for the work and floating tender would start only after the entire amount is deposited. Despite several reminders, officials have not bothered to deposit the amount. “Yesterday this was raised in a meeting called by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. There officials promised to deposit amount at the earliest,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
DYFI Mangalore City president B.K. Imtiyaz said the delay in constructing a RUB was another instance of continued neglect in taking up development activities at the busy Mangalore Junction Railway station by the Railways. Mr. Imtiyaz said the road connecting the railway station and the National Highway 66 (Mangalore-Bangalore) was in a bad condition. The platforms at the station were badly maintained and there are no waiting rooms for passengers arriving in the night. The electronic display board indicating the train number and the bogie was not working for a long time. “It lacks basic facilities necessary for commuters,” Mr. Imtiyaz said.