Delay in completion of overbridge draws ire

For the last one and a half years, a railway overbridge has been under construction to replace the level crossing I. Earlier, it used to take 10-15 minutes for the residents to cross the gate. After the construction of the bridge started, authorities closed the railway gate and residents are left with no option but to take the crowded interior routes, to cross the railway tracks.

Talking to DT Next, A V Surendiran, convenor of Joint Action Committee for North Villivakkam and Kolathur Nagar Residents, said, “More than 100 residents from Villivakkam and Kolathur are struggling to cross the tracks. The detour is at least two kilometres longer.” He added that Rajaji Nagar sees the most impact of the congestion with severe air pollution due to increased vehicular movement.

After a struggle for more than a decade with several representations and press reports, the Greater Chennai Corporation and Southern Railways took up the work during mid-2017 and closed the level crossing permanently.

Surendiran pointed out that the Corporation had allocated Rs 59 crore for the bridge that is 480 metre long and 7.8 metre wide. “The Railway has done some work on their part, but the Chennai Corporation has done no visible work in the past 20 months.”

Residents added that more than 400 trains pass via Villivakkam level crossing from 4 am till midnight and these include EMUs, express trains, super-fast trains and several goods trains.

However, a senior official from the Corporation said that they have a part to play only after the construction of the bridge is completed.