OUTLINING PLANS: Rakesh Vatash, Divisional Railway Manager, addressing a press conference in Hubli on Tuesday.

HUBLI: To prevent a repeat of the ghastly accident in which an SSLC student was run over by a train recently and to provide safe passage for pedestrians, particularly children who cross the rail track to reach their school, a pedestrian subway will be constructed near the V.S. Pillay English Medium School in Hubli. The Hubli Division of South Western Railway has sent a proposal to the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) for construction of the subway.

The proposed subway is likely to cost around Rs. 60 lakh. It will be built around 200 metres from the school and will be 2.5 metres below the ground and 3 metres wide.

Two-wheeler riders will also be able to use the subway.

Rakesh Vatash, Divisional Railway Manager, told presspersons here on Tuesday that a response from the corporation was awaited as the guidelines stipulated that funds had to be made available before the Railways could prepare a detailed plan and estimate.

Constructing an overbridge would cost the HDMC Rs. 6 crore to 8 crore, an expenditure it cannot afford. For this reason, the proposal on the pedestrian subway had been submitted, he said.

The popular demand for an overbridge had gained momentum after the tragic death of Shilpa Pralhad Rane, an SSLC student who was run over as she was crossing the railway track on her way to the examination centre last month. Some organisations had staged a demonstration and a "rail roko".

Dharwad North MP Pralhad Joshi, HDMC Commissioner P. Manivannan, Divisional Railway Manager Rakesh Vatash and other officials visited the spot and conceived the idea of constructing a pedestrian subway. The railway authorities were asked to do a feasibility study.

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