Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Feb 6: A senior journalist in the city has written a letter to the union railway minister Piyush Goyal urging him to connect the east and west sides of Mangaluru Central railway station through a foot over-bridge (FOB).
The letter was addressed through BJP state president MP Nalin Kumar Kateel. Journalist T P Rajeevan stated that constructing a FOB would ease the congestion at the main entrance of the railway station.
Mangaluru Central railway station
"The Vaidyanath temple road starting at the main road beside D-Mart supermarket on the eastern side comes to a dead-end at the railway yard. At this place, adjacent to well no 3, a foot overbridge can be created to connect to the railway police station, which leads to the railway colony road on the western side of the central railway station. The foot overbridge would be immensely useful for the general public as well as the railways.
"It would also be great if a new ticket counter can be built at the starting of the proposed foot-over-bridge on the Vaidyanath temple side. This would also help to greatly reduce the crowd at the main ticket counter,” he stated in the letter.
Rajeevan in his letter stated that since more than half of the city's population resides on the east and southeast part of the Central railway station, a foot overbridge would be need of the hour. Further, he pointed out that the office of the district magistrate, the police commissioner, as well as almost all the government regional offices, are situated on the western side of the Central railway station bringing attention to the importance a foot overbridge can bring to the area. In addition to this Rajeevan wrote about the different amenities and services like the city bus stand, central market, central maidan, Town Hall, etc which are also situated on the western side of the central railway station. Due to the absence of the foot overbridge, majority of the people are travelling through comparatively narrow roads creating bottlenecks and traffic jams to reach the western side of the central railway station. Adding to that, lack of parking space in the centre of the city area and the western parts, force people to park their vehicles at a distance far away from their destinations, the letter stated.
The letter also highlighted the plight of the people who are coming to the city from other states and districts. "Hundreds of patients coming to visit the hospitals of Mangaluru and hundreds of students coming to Mangaluru for education on a daily basis in trains are now trespassing through the railway line to reach their destination. Even though the railway authorities have been trying to prevent this, they have not been able to completely stop the trespassing due to the lack of a proper path for the travellers. This foot overbridge would solve this problem once and for all and will help in safeguarding the railway premises.
"The past decade, Mangaluru has developed unlike any other city in the country. The population is booming and Mangaluru is one among the proposed smart cities. Among all the major and minor cities in India, Mangaluru Central railway station is the only station without a foot overbridge. This needs to be rectified immediately," state Rajeevan in the letter.