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Land dispute delays Manjri railway overbridge completion
The closure of the railway crossing due to the railway overbridge construction has virtually cut off the connection between Manjri and Manjri Khurd village, locals complained
Land acquisition issues over the proposed Manjri railway-overbridge project are prolonging the closure of the railway crossing, making school-going children and commuters take a detour from the Keshavnagar side. The matter has added a few kilometres more to their daily ride, causing a delay of more than an hour to reach their destinations.
The closure of the railway crossing due to the railway overbridge construction has virtually cut off the connection between Manjri and Manjri Khurd village, locals complained. Vehicles are stopped from moving and must take alternate routes from Keshav Nagar, Magarpatta, and Mundhwa, which are equally choked with hundreds of people travelling from Hadapsar and into the area, they said.
The contractors working on the Manjri-Hadapsar railway overbridge project confirmed that while the ramp entering the Hadapsar side is complete, it is near Manjri village where they are facing land acquisition issues.
Rahul Patel, a government contractor for the State Public Works Department (PWD), explained: “The 11,000 sq ft land near Manjri is owned by a farmer, who claims that he had given this property for rent but has not yet received the payment from the benefactor. However, PWD refuted this argument and claimed the land was already acquired by them beforehand.”
PWD officials and the farmer both met for a meeting about the issue last week, however, both parties reached an inconclusive decision. Patel mentioned that another meeting with the district collector is scheduled to be held next week in hopes that it reaches a consensus and ultimately opens the railway crossing.
Nirmal Waddan, principal of The Kalyani School which is located after the railway crossing, expressed her anguish over the incomplete work.
“We have been facing complaints from parents for the past two to three years,” she said.
“As most of our students come from different areas of the city - Amanora, Magarpatta, Camp, NIMB road - the non-completion of the bridge makes at least 90% of the school’s 1,550 students miss first-period lectures. Our admissions in the kindergarten section are also getting affected because parents do not want to send their children so far away,” Waddan claimed.
Mitesh Jain, parent to a child who studies in the school, elucidated: “In what would usually be a 2-kilometre stretch from my home to the school, is now a one-hour journey because of this incomplete railway overbridge construction. The school buses need to take a detour from the Manjri-Hadapsar Road to Mundhwa Chowk before they can reach the premises. With the railway crossing in between the roads, it makes it impossible for vehicles to turn.”
Commuters who were unhappy with the closure of the bridge were told to use alternate routes in Keshav Nagar and Mundhwa areas. However, with similar vehicular traffic in those regions, two-wheeler drivers suggested that a flyover being built in Mundhwa to divert all the traffic coming from different lanes.
Shivraj Ghule, sarpanch of Manjri, commented: “I cannot provide any solution to the current congestion situation. While the underground transit, meant for walking and two-wheelers, is in operation - the overbridge is almost 80% to 85% completed. I believe it will be done in the next two to three months. The MLAs should take follow-ups about the situation.”
