BENGALURU: Lack of will by bureaucrats, meddling by politicians, coupled with house owners unwilling to part with their properties for has made commuting via the railway crossing at Kaggadaspura in CV Raman Nagar a nightmare. A Road Over Bridge sanctioned 11 years ago by the South Western Railway has remained a non-starter and the Bengaluru Division blames the BBMP for not acquiring the land for the ramps.
The level crossing gate here is shut at least 14 times a day to allow trains to pass. With four roads converging at the gate, and school buses, construction vehicles for the Metro project and vehicles of residents of layouts that have sprouted in Kaggadaspura trying to get ahead, traffic gridlocks occur almost every hour. Jams sometimes extend up to 1 km on the road towards Mahadevapura.
The problem is set to intensify when the Baiyappanahalli-Hosur track is doubled and more trains will run along this section. When TNIE visited the spot, two cops looked hassled trying to regulate traffic. M Nagamani, a school bus driver for the last 15 years, said he and a few volunteers have spent countless hours clearing traffic. “Between 8 am and 11 am as well as between 3.30 pm to 8 pm, it takes up to 45 minutes to cross the gate.”
Totally 93 properties need to be acquired, but the house owners are refusing, explained a resident. “The DRDO has built a bridge for its staff, but has barred public on it due to security reasons.” Another resident alleged that since the level crossing lies within two constituencies which had MLAs from opposing parties in the past, Byrathi Basavaraju for K R Puram and S Raghu for CV Raman Nagar, they refused to work together for the project. “Now, both MLAs are from the same party. They have still not taken steps to help us,” he added.
A railway official said, “Railways can easily build the ROB as the land is ours. But no point in building it if it is not inaccessible to the public. We will proceed only if the land is acquired and given to us.”
The bridge was estimated to cost Rs 31 crore in 2012. “It must have gone up massively now. That too needs to be figured out,” he added.