Growing number of vehicles have been choking the industrial town of Rajgangpur in Sundargarh district. Adding to people’s woes, trains have made commuting on the town roads even more difficult.
The town is equally divided by the busy Howrah-Mumbai railway track of the South Eastern Railway (SER) having three level-crossings.
SER sources said around 130 passenger and goods trains use the route daily. Every time a train passes on the route, traffic stops at the level crossings for over 20 to 30 minutes.
Passing through the SER’s level crossing at Bagichapada is a nightmare. If this is not enough, there are two more level crossings at Subash Chhack and Biju Patnaik Chhack for the loop line of the cement major OCL India Ltd. OCL’s goods trains also use the Bagichapada level crossing to connect to the main line.
There has been no respite for the harassed commuters as their demands to construct Road-Over-Bridges (ROBs) to get rid of the traffic snarls have remained unheard for three decades. The Municipality limits have a population of around 55,000 and the captive township of OCL accounts for another 15,000.
Rajgangpur Municipality Chairman PC Rout claimed that they have been unsuccessfully pressing Sundargarh district administration, SER and OCL management to remove the traffic woes by setting up ROBs.
The locals said on the SER main line they have to wait for above 30 minutes at times. Moreover, frequent movement of the goods trains of OCL on the loop line is no less painstaking as the goods trains at times take around 45 minutes to divert to the SER main line.
Though SER has assured to set up ROB near Bagichapada, there is no specific time frame.
Sundargarh-based PWD Executive Engineer Mansingh Majhi said a survey report has been sent to the State Government for approval. Hoping for an early result, Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) member Ramesh Mehta said the Railway Board has approved the proposal and sanctioned around `20 crore.
As for the OCL, there is no hope. OCL sources attributed non-availability of land as major hurdle for constructing ROB.
