BHUBANESWAR: Moved by the grievance of a Class II student who sought a foot over bridge (FOB) at Birapratappur village in Puri district, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday asked his officials to take immediate steps for construction of the bridge with ramp facility for the convenience of locals.
Vaishnaw, during his tour to Puri district, stopped near Birapratappur school where seven-year-old Badri Prasad Panda highlighted the plight of the locals and students. Panda, besides apprising the Minister about the inconvenience faced by the villagers due to an underpass, demanded an FOB for the villagers and a playground for the school.
Though the railways had closed the manned level crossing that had been dividing the village diagonally and constructed an underpass nearly half a km away from the village, it has been creating a lot of inconvenience to the locals and school students.
The villagers complained that they have been facing a lot of difficulties in pulling the chariot of the village temple across the railway lines while the lower and upper primary school children had to walk more to reach their schools.
Vaishnaw called railway officials and visited the spot. He advised them to construct an FOB with ramp facilities for the benefit of the villagers. Later he assured the villagers that the matter will be resolved soon.