Motorists wait for trains to pass; trains wait for motorists to clear the crossing. This occurs more than 40 times a day, causing delays in suburban and national train traffic.
The reason behind this daily mess is a complete lack of planning and coordination between agencies. The road overbridge (ROB) at Diva, intended to eliminate the level crossing, is structurally ready across the railway tracks; however, without land for its approaches on either side, the multi-crore project remains useless. And this is not the only such case, said our report.
Central Railway recently raised a red flag over seven road overbridges across the Mumbai division where the railway portion is complete, but the structure is literally hanging — unused — because local bodies have failed to build the connecting approaches. According to internal records, these stranded bridges across the CSMT-Kalyan main line, Kalyan-Karjat and Karjat-Lonavla belts, and Panvel-Roha stretch remain incomplete due to disputes.
We need a quick detangling of this mess that has significant snowball effects. First, you have the fact that public money used for these bridges seems to be wasted, as they cannot be used. Then there is the fact that there are huge delays, as the level crossings need to open, and this delays trains. A mammoth buildup of frustration and anger takes its toll on mental health, too.
The civic authorities must bring an end to land cases either through dialogue, negotiation and mutually acceptable terms. Going ahead, everything must be resolved and absolutely clean when it comes to bridges, as the infrastructure should not be wasted in the first place.