The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Memorandum submitted to reopen level crossing

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Tamil Nadu

Memorandum submitted to reopen level crossing

Staff Reporter

It is the lifeline of over 50,000 people at Lalapet

A limited subway will not solve problem
No undertaking taken from local bodies to close it down

KULITHALAI: Undeterred by the delay of the railway authorities in reopening the level crossing at Lalapet that has remained shut since of the opening of rail over bridge on January 11, the Lalapet Railway Gate Struggle Committee has petitioned the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment D. Napoleon, who is their Lok Sabha representative as well, to enlist his support to get the gate opened.

In a memorandum submitted to the Minister recently, the Committee coordinator S. Krishnamachari has observed that the level crossing No. 48 at Lalapet was the lifeline of over 50,000 people including farmers and others in Kallapallai, Chinthalavadi, Pillapalayam and Karupatthur panchayats in the region.

To express resentment over the closure of the railway level crossing gate the public staged a rail roko on the day the gate was closed, downed shutters at Lalapet and neighbouring areas subsequently, besides hoisting black flags and even threatened to boycott Lok Sabha elections but that fizzled out.

Yet the Struggle Committee that has a widespread support base among the public and other sections of society in the Lalapet area decided to pursue the matter with elected people’s representatives in the region.

Several representations to the railway authorities pointing to the unique circumstances in which the rail over bridge was constructed and the subsequent difficulties they were facing to negotiate the closed railway level crossing gate failed to move them, Mr. Krishnamachari has pointed out in the memorandum.

The Struggle Committee Coordinator has also said that the RoB is actually not in lieu of LC No. 48 but is a bypass RoB that crosses the railway tracks a good two km from the level crossing _ the gate is in Kallappalli panchayat while the bridge crosses the track in Chinthalavadi panchayat.

A limited subway or a foot over bridge is not going to solve the problem of the Lalapet and surrounding people, he has argued. While the total population lives on the southern side of the gate, the river and road access lay on the other side with the gate dividing them.

Cremation and burial grounds lay on the northern side of the gate, along the banks of the Cauvery and access to them for funeral rites have been severely cramped and that has been one major factor for the resentment of the public.

The railways did not get any undertaking from the local bodies concerned or the State Government to close down the gate upon commissioning of the RoB. All the four panchayats have unanimously passed resolutions condemning the closure of the gate, he has pointed out in the memorandum.

The railways has, in fact, reopened level crossing gate closed down after opening of RoBs in several instances following court interventions, public protest and representations from State Government.

The Lalapet case must be viewed from the same angle, he has said.

More than 100 deaths have occurred in the region since the gate was closed and on all occasions the near and dear ones have run from pillar to post to get permission for the cortege to cross the tracks, Mr. Krishnamachari said and called for immediate intervention by Mr. Napoleon to get the closed gate open.

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