Aurangabad, July 31:
The residents staying in Satara-Deolai and adjoining localities, situated across the railway track, have experienced inconvenience due to the closure of the railway gate in Shivajinagar, to undertake repair and maintenance works by the railways. The gate was closed early in the morning and will remain closed for the vehicles and passers-by till Sunday at 10 pm.
The maintenance works started today at 9 am. The vehicle-owners got restless on the first day. The citizens used Sangramnagar flyover during the whole day to visit Satara-Deolai for their work and vice-versa. Unaware of the closure of the gate, the many vehicle-owners (including four-wheelers) were compelled to return after arriving at the gate and then drive or ride towards Sangramnagar Railway Overbridge, which was 1 km away from the spot. Long queues of vehicles including cars were formed on the RoB as well as on the Beed Bypass road. Meanwhile, today's incident once
again underlined the need of having an underpass beneath the tracks passing through Shivajinagar. The police had a tough time maintaining traffic discipline.
The population of Satara-Deolai and in the adjoining villages has increased on large scale. As a result, the people staying at places like Kachner, Gandheli, Gadivat, Kachner Tanda, Balapur, Chittegaon etc pass through this railway gate in Shivajinagar regularly. The spot witnesses traffic congestion regularly, after passing of trains, through this gate. Long queues are formed at the gate. This enforces the common man to experience traffic congestion daily. Hence the residents of Satara-Deolai are waiting impatiently for the construction of the underpass at this gate.
According to sources, the railway officials undertook the task of replacing cement sleepers at the gate on the first day. Hence the speed of trains passing through the track was 15 KM per hour.
According to the president of Satara-Deolai Janseva Kruti Samiti, Badrinath Thorat, " The deputy chief minister has granted state government's funds to the railways, but the officials concerned has not spoken upon it. We are gearing up to launch a rail roko agitation. It is our request to construct the underpass and avoid inconvenience faced by the vehicle-riders."