Post News Network
Joda, Nov 3: An arbitrary decision by railway officials to close down the Bhagalpur-Bileipada unmanned level-crossing here in Keonjhar district for vehicular and pedestrian traffic sparked tension in the area as irate people gheraoed the office of the station master of Murga Mahadev railway station Tuesday.
Villagers said railway authorities without putting in place alternate arrangements closed down the unmanned level-crossing which serves as the main transit route for over 15,000 villagers between Bhagalpur and Bileipada.
Ajit Kumar Nayak of Bhagalpur village warned that the villagers would intensify their agitation if the route was not reopened for traffic within 24 hours.
Dumbstruck residents watched in silence as railway authorities started digging up the road to erect barricades on both sides of the railway track. The villagers lost their cool when government railway police (GRP) blocked an ambulance that was ferrying patients to a hospital via the route. The villagers then mustered courage to gherao the station master’s office and demand that the barricades be removed.
Nayak said over 15,000 people of five revenue villages like Bhagalpur, Balita, Raika, Sayabali and Gobardhanpur are dependent on the route to reach their destinations.
Schoolchildren and farmers are the worst-affected as they would now have to travel a long way via a circuitous route in order to reach their destinations. Moreover, the route was the only way for villagers to reach Birikala gram panchayat and the block headquarters in Joda, Nayak said.
The villagers said they never expected such a development as they had in the past filed several complaints requesting the district collector, the divisional railway manager (DRM) and other officials to construct a manned level-crossing at the spot in order to provide safe traffic movement along the route. The villagers said they did not expect that the railway authorities would end up blocking the route altogether.
When contacted, station master Pintu Kumar Singh said he was understanding of the problems faced by the villagers and said he has apprised his senior officials of the problem.
