The Union railway ministry will build a road overbridge (ROB) along the railway level crossing in Rangapani on the southern outskirts of Siliguri and will entirely fund the project.
Sandip Sharma, the principal chief engineer of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), sent a letter to the divisional railway manager of Katihar division of the NFR — Rangapani falls under this division — on Friday on the decision.
“The process of detailed design and drawings is underway, along with a thorough reassessment of the cost estimate. Once these formalities are done, construction of the ROB will start. The state PWD approved the GAD (general arrangement drawing) of the ROB last month,” said an NFR source.
In January last year, the BJP's Darjeeling MP Raju Bista sought Union railway minister Ashwin Vaishnaw's approval for the overbridge.
“Every day, over one lakh people move through the level crossing (on NH27) and consistent movement of trains leads to a prolonged closure of the crossing gate, causing inconvenience and traffic snarls,” said Bista.
He said that as there is a terminal of the Numaligarh Refinery Limited nearby, the traffic congestion worsens when oil rakes enter or exit the terminal.
“It is good that the railways have finally approved the project. They will entirely fund the project and we believe it will largely help residents of Siliguri subdivision and others who move through the route every day,” the BJP MP added.
If one travels 7km southwards from New Jalpaiguri Station, the first station is Rangapani and the level crossing stands next to it.
“Railway officials will submit estimates to the Railway Board by February 15 this year,” said a source.
Smoke in coach
Smoke started emanating from under a general coach of the Howrah-bound down Kulik Express at Khaltipur station in Malda division of Eastern Railway on Saturday morning, triggering panic among passengers.
Sources said that around 9.15am, as the train left Malda Town station, a railway employee spotted the smoke and informed the station manager of Khaltipur. The loco pilot of the train also learnt about it and stopped the train.
As the train stopped, passengers of the concerned coach got off the train. Some others from the adjoining compartments followed them.
Soon, teams from the railways technical maintenance wing and Railway Protection Force rushed to the spot. They carried out necessary maintenance work. The train was signalled to leave the station after around 30 minutes.
Kausik Mitra, the chief public relations officer of Eastern Railway, said the incident was caused by brake binding of the train's wheels.
“The issue was sorted quickly and the train left after half an hour. No damage has been reported and rail traffic was not disrupted on the route,” he said.
Additional reporting by Soumya De Sarkar in Malda
