July 16, 2019
Abir Ranjan Biswas makes a Special Mention on the conversion of railway underpass into motorable road
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Ranaghat is a very busy and important railway junction, with five important routes passing through it, including an international one connecting Dhaka. The track runs through the middle of Ranaghat municipality, dividing it into two halves, with nearly all public amenities lying on the western half including its court, its police station, the SDO’s office, the tehsildar’s office and all other administrative offices, and also its subdivisional superspeciality hospital which caters to the needs of millions of people of the subdivision and to the populations of contiguous SC-populated administrative blocks of Nadia and the adjoining district of North 24 Parganas, apart from five close-by municipalities, including two SC-populated ones, one of which hosts 90 per cent scheduled castes.
Three railway level crossings hold the passage to cross over from the eastern to the western part to access all the amenities. But because of the busy railway routes, the level crossings are kept closed frequently, specially during the night. The movement of very long freight trains on the international route, carrying goods to Bangladesh, also occur. All three gates remain closed for long periods of time barring access to the hospital. This often has fatal consequences for seriously ill patients and pregnant mothers. A large number of deaths caused due to detaining at the level crossings have made the people very apprehensive and circumspect, fearful about their own lives and of their near and dear ones.
Since the last three years, the people have been demanding a solution through the conversion of a recently constructed underpass into a motorable way, with a little modification, assuring millions of safety and survival.
In support of this demand, there have been continuous rail blockages on a number of occasions, when railway authorities pacified them by giving assurance but delivered nothing to the despair of one and all. Hence, I implore upon the Railway Minister to realise the gravity of the matter and ensure the much-solicited conversion of the underpass into a motorable road.
