BJP supporters led by Sikha Chatterjee, the MLA of Dabgram-Fulbari, resorted to a day-long dharna on Wednesday, alleging that the Mamata Banerjee government was not granting no-objection certificate (NOC) to the railways for the construction of a road over-bridge at a railway level crossing near Siliguri.

“Last year, the railways decided to build the road over-bridge, which is a longstanding demand of thousands of people who move through Eastern Bypass every day. The railways sent letters to the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, seeking the NOC. However, to date, the state government has not granted the NOC. As a result, people are facing inconvenience at the level crossing,” said Chatterjee.

The Eastern Bypass connects northeast of Siliguri with the southeast. The level crossing is at Thakurnagar, which is in the southern part of the city near New Jalpaiguri station.

According to sources in Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), in November last year, they sent a letter to the DM of Jalpaiguri.

“As the NOC was not issued, another letter was sent in January this year by the divisional railway manager of Katihar division (of the NFR). In the letter, it was clearly mentioned that the railways would bear the entire cost of the project but till now, the NOC has not been issued,” said an NFR official.

The level crossing, railway sources said, has a TVU (Train Vehicle Units) of 10,58,274 units. TVU is calculated by multiplying the number of trains moving through the crossing, multiplied by the number of vehicles which cross the level crossing in 24 hours.

“The TVU is quite high at the level crossing and so the road over-bridge is necessary,” the official added.

Every day, hundreds of vehicles get stranded at the level crossing, ranging from trucks to two-wheelers and three-wheelers. People use the route to reach NJP, southern outskirts which are in Jalpaiguri district and also vice-versa, that is, Siliguri and other areas in the north and the west of the city.

“We have seen how ambulances, school buses and pool cars get stranded because of frequent movement of trains. The chief minister and Trinamul Congress leaders always boast how they work for people but in this case, they seem to be oblivious to the inconvenience faced by thousands of daily commuters. The Jalpaiguri district administration should immediately issue the NOC or else, we will intensify our movement. Even administrative officials have acknowledged that they, too, face the problem of traffic congestion while using the bypass,” said Chatterjee, whose constituency represents 14 wards of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation and four adjoining panchayats of Jalpaiguri district.

Shama Parveen, the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, was brief in her reaction.

“I need to talk to senior officials of the state government to get details," she said.