Rs 11 Cr underpass becomes nightmare

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The underpass built at Shivajinagar railway crossing for Rs 11 crore has become unbearable rather than convenient. Daily technical glitches trap ordinary citizens in traffic jams, and when rainwater accumulates, the underpass becomes doubly dangerous.

According to sources, joint teams from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC), Public Works Department (PWD), Railway, and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) will jointly conduct a site inspection to review the pending work on the underpass, service road, and the waterlogging problem, and discuss possible solutions.

The PWD is pointing fingers at the Railway and MSEDCL. The Railway administration claims it has corrected its mistakes. For the Municipal Corporation, the underpass has become a constant headache.

The total cost of the underpass is Rs 11 crore, of which the World Bank Department of PWD completed a portion, including the road, service road, squares on both sides, land levelling, and roofing work. The PWD carried out the concreting and wall structure of the underpass.

The Railway handled the installation of the readymade tunnel, drainage system, and arrangements to fully drain water into the drain adjacent to the railway line. The bridge structure and drainage work were done by the Railway. Both agencies spent Rs 5.50 crore each.

MSEDCL has erected a 33 KV distribution point (DP) at Deoalai Chowk, which supplies power to several areas. A 33 KV and 11 KV line crosses the railway track. Since these cables have not been shifted, the service road coming from the right side of Deolai has been stalled for the past one and a half years. The PWD says that once both lines are shifted, the remaining work can be completed quickly.

Around a dozen meetings have been held between the Railway, Municipal Corporation, Mahavitaran and PWD, but no solution has been reached on when to start the work or how to resolve the issue. PWD wrote to Mahavitaran suggesting underground cabling, but the power company opposed it, citing future maintenance difficulties. No decision has been made for the past one and a half years.

Sources said that a Railway team from Secunderabad, along with teams from Mahavitaran, PWD, and the civic body, will inspect the remaining work at the site on April 27. If the work is completed within the next month, well and good; otherwise, once the monsoon arrives, the underpass will flood again and residents will suffer.