Asserting that all railway subways had adequate drainage system, M. Suyambulingam, Southern Railway Chief Engineer (Bridges), allayed apprehensions of water stagnation in subways constructed to eliminate unmanned level crossings in the district.
Talking to reporters after inspecting the subway work at Landhai near here on Wednesday, he said people did not have to worry about water stagnation as each subway would have four sumps with automatic sensor-based pumping system to drain water.
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The accumulated water during rainy season would be automatically pumped out with the aid of sensor system. As the railway was using the biggest version of precast concrete boxes, measuring 4.5 metre in height for constructing subways, all types of heavy vehicles could pass through them easily, he said.
Stating that the ramps would facilitate free flow of traffic in the subways, Mr. Suyambulingam said water tankers, harvester machines and fire service vehicles could also pass through them without difficulty, he said.
The Southern Railway proposed to eliminate 232 unmanned level crossings in Madurai division at the total cost of ₹400 crore. It had planned to eliminate 60 unmanned level crossings this year, he added.
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Allaying the apprehensions of the people assumed significance in wake of a series of protests staged by people of Kooriyur village, who said that the retaining walls on the subway would prevent free flow of water through the canals flanking the track during monsoon and flood the village and paddy fields.
Mr. Suyambulingam later held talks with Suba. Nagarajan, BJP State vice-president and a native of Kooriyur, who led the protests. Mr. Nagarajan said the Chief Engineer said that the villagers could use the existing level crossing road till an alternative arrangement was made.
Meanwhile, MR Hi Tech Engineers, which has been awarded the contract to construct subways, laid the seventh subway at Landhai on Wednesday.