DHARMAPURI: A pedestrian railway underpass in Kumarasamypettai built by the South Western Railway nearly seven years ago has become unusable due to waterlogging and lack of maintenance.
The underpass was built to enable smooth crossing of the Dharmapuri- Pennagaram road by the residents of MGR Nagar during the construction of the Kumarasamypettai overpass.
In 2018, the Railways completed the construction of the overpass and the manned railway gate here was removed.
The underpass was meant to help the public to move about as the road was closed during the overpass construction.
However, due to the lack of maintenance and water stagnation people avoid using the underpass.
The residents urged the South Western Railway to renovate it in such a way that at least two-wheelers can pass through here.
R Gopalan, a resident of Kumarasamypettai, said, "The problem with the underpass is that it was never used. Shortly after it was opened, the entire world went into lockdown due to COVID-19. Since then, overgrowths filled the underpass and it scared people, especially at night, as there was no light. Furthermore, it was poorly constructed, leading to water stagnation during the monsoon. No wonder, people avoided using it."
Another resident, G Karthika, said, "Most people just ignore the underpass and cross the railway track because it is not possible to use the underpass. Right now, the rainwater has stagnated here after the recent rains. The other alternative is a two-kilometer walk to cross the road. Had the SW railway constructed the underpass properly, allowing two-wheelers to pass through to the other side, we would not be facing this problem. Moreover, the underpass is a cesspool; people use it as a toilet. So we have not once thought of using it even if there is no water stagnation".
Engineers of the South Western Railway in Dharmapuri were not reachable when TNIE reached out to them for their response.