Waking up to the calamities caused by unmanned level crossings in the state, the Thiruvananthapuram division of Southern Railway which has the majority of unmanned level crossings in the state, is looking at a possible solution. It has identified 31 parallel roads within the division to replace the unmanned level crossings.
The concept of parallel roads is meant to eliminate at least one-third of these unmanned level crossings which pose a threat to human life. Under the system, a parallel road is constructed so that two to three level crossings can be eliminated. This is meant for areas which have multiple level crossings at a distance of less than 200 metres from each other. After building the roads, only one of the adjacent level crossings is left open while the rest will be closed down.
According to railway officials, setting up of these parallel roads could be one of the easiest and most cost-effective measures to eliminate these dangerous zones.
“We have been contemplating the setting up of parallel roads for quite some time. Most of the accidents have occurred in the Alapuzha sector as there are many unmanned level crossings within 100-200 metres width of each other in a continuous stretch.
“The best example was Sunday’s accident at Aroor. There were two level crossings in the same stretch.
“The accident took place in the second level crossing,” said Ernakulam Area Manager P L Ashok Kumar.
Railway officials said that the parallel road need not be a pucca road. “ Rather we encourage it to be kutcha roads since it is usually used only by two wheelers and cars.
The parallel roads are built with the concept that they should not carry heavy load vehicles,” the official added.
However, if this has to be a reality, the railways has to get support from the local bodies.
“A local MLA can contribute a certain protion of his funds for the setting up of the road. At the same time, the local municipality or panchayat should be willing to cooperate with us,” he said.
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