BENGALURU: The small Jnanabharathi Halt station presents an idyllic picture till the Mysuru-KSR Bengaluru MEMU chugs in at 8.45 am. The station springs to life and there is a sudden burst of activity on the railway tracks as all the passengers alighting here, mostly women, dash across the tracks onto Mysuru Road.
With garment factories located in the vicinity of the railway station, workers from Mandya, Maddur, Channapatna and Ramanagara get down here and rush off to work. Trespassing on the tracks is a cause of worry as a speeding express train crosses the station ten minutes later without slowing down as there is no halt here. With the Jnanabharathi Metro station opening up last week, more passengers could use the railway station now. Two pairs of MEMU trains, to and from Mysuru and the Mysuru-Talagappa Express train, halt at this station now.
With the proposed Foot Over Bridge (FOB) by the Bengaluru Railway Division delayed for years, passengers have no other option but to cross the tracks risking their lives. TNIE caught up with some passengers. Bore Gowda, employed at a pharmacy nearby, pointed out that there is no other alternative. “I know I am risking my life. I have been doing it for the last five years now,” he said.
Manjunatha, an employee at a private firm, was walking along the tracks, listening to music. “I have been doing this for years and nothing has happened so far,” he responded. A final-year law college student, M S Priyanka, was going in the reverse direction from Jnanabharati towards Ramanagara. “I reside nearly 2 km from the station at Rajarajeshwari Nagar. After I reach the station, I need to cross the tracks to take a train to reach the Government Law College in Ramanagara,” he said.
Divisional Railway Manager (Bengaluru) Shyam Singh told TNIE that he is taking the issue seriously. “Two Railway Protection Force personnel have been posted with immediate effect to stop people from crossing the tracks.” The DRM said that steps to complete the FOB, proposed at a cost of Rs 2 crore, will be taken up on priority.
“We are also examining the possibility of fencing the area between the two platforms so that people cannot cross. I will personally visit the station to take stock of the situation.” Attempts to erect walls at the station in 2004 and in 2010 did not succeed due to stiff resistance from local residents, he added.