No land for railway bridges

No land for railway bridges


N R Madhusudhan Express News ServiceFirst Published : 18 Aug 2010 04:27:22 AM ISTLast Updated : 18 Aug 2010 11:54:43 AM IST
BANGALORE: More than two-and-half-years have elapsed since the project to construct railway bridges at two major level crossing -- Jalahalli and Nayandahalli -- were sanctioned. But work has come to a halt, as the Railways claims that it is yet to get land for the projects.
Speaking to Express on Monday, South Western Railways Chief Administrative Officer, Vijaya Kumar said, “Due to the heavy traffic congestion at these places, the project was sanctioned on a priority basis.” He said despite several requests to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to hand over land at Jalahalli and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to sanction land from the approach roads at Nayandahalli, they are yet to oblige.
This has resulted in frequent traffic jams at these areas as motorists are forced to wait for a long time whenever a train passes through the junction.
Shivshankar, a resident of Nayandahalli said, “It is very difficult to predict when the trains come and so, we are forced to wait for a long time for the gates at the level crossing to open and for the traffic to clear.” Meanwhile, a BDA official - on conditions of anonymity - said that they were planning to construct a grade separator at the level crossing at Jalahalli. “Since the land on either side of the road belongs to the defence, we will hand over the land to the Railways as soon we get it sanctioned from the Ministry of Defence,” he said.
Chickmuniyappa, BBMP Special Land Acquisition Officer said, “We have already conducted a survey of the required land at Nayandahalli and will initiate acquisition process as soon as the council approves it.”