A resident of Giridih is staging a sit-in near Bapu Vatika in Morabadi for 218 days to get the Indian Railways to build a 150-metre overbridge at Saria in his home district for which Rs 29 crore was sanctioned way back in 2013.
Prakash Mandal (35) told The Telegraph that he would continue his protest till the construction of the bridge whose absence had hampered the development of Saria.
“Two railway tracks pass through the middle of Saria near Hazaribagh Road station in Dhanbad division of East Central Railway, which is one of the busiest lines in the country. The level crossings remain closed for the major part of the day, inconveniencing 2.5 lakh people in the area who need to cross the tracks to go over the other side for work and other needs,” Mandal said.
The area falls under Koderma parliamentary constituency. Former MP of Koderma Ravindra Rai had raised the issue in the Lok Sabha several times.
Rai admitted the problem and shared the reason behind the delay in the construction of the bridge.
“In 2013, Rs 29 crore was sanctioned for the construction of bridge and a tender was floated. However, after proper verification of the spot, it was realised that building a bridge at the site would make the area inaccessible to the local people for almost one-and-a-half years. It is the only link between the Saria market and Raj Dhanwar. Blocking it for such a long period would severely inconvenience a lot of people,” he said.
Rai said as many as 150 families would lose their hoses and shops that needed to the demolished to make way for the overbridge.
Asked about an alternative, Rai said he was in contact with Dhanbad divisional railway manager (DRM) A.K. Mishra and was trying to work out a solution.
“We are planning to construct a 4km bypass before building the bridge to ensure that traffic between Saria and Raj Dhanwar does not get disrupted. An underpass instead of an overbridge is being mulled to ensure no one loses their house and source of livelihood because of the project. I am in touch with the DRM and hope some solution will come out soon,” Rai added.
