: They know that danger lurks on these railway tracks. But hundreds of people have been counting on their stars and crossing these tracks behind the head post office in the city, taking their chances with speeding trains every day.
A lane from the head post office near Mananchira (at the curve on Kannur Road) leads to this unauthorised crossing to reach four or five schools, the Government Hospital at the beach, the district sessions court, the Kozhikode Corporation and many other establishments.
The railways had already told people campaigning for a foot over bridge that it could not be put up at this spot as another bridge (the Red Cross Road flyover) was just 100 metres away.
Wall built
A wall had been built along the railway line. But, an access had been created apparently by regular users of this stretch to enable the crossing.
Navatharangam, a cultural organisation, got into campaigning for a bridge on sensing that a disaster is waiting to happen at this location.
It carried out a signature campaign on December 20, 2012. It collected signatures from about 2,000 people, including a large number of those who crossed the tracks.
On January 2, 2013, these were submitted along with a memorandum to then Union Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal while he was in the city for a function.
“Nothing has happened since then. If a safe passage cannot be provided, they should end the unauthorised crossing to prevent risk to lives and limbs,” says former joint secretary Alexander N. Thomas of Navatharangam.
The organisation’s convenor A.P. Kunhamu said, “When it was pointed out that elderly people would not be able to use the bridge, we asked for an underpass”.
Another association, Kuriyil Brothers’ Club wrote to the heads of the schools that the students should be ordered not to get into stationary trains to get to the other side.
“When students did this, they would not be able to spot an oncoming train on the other track,” says club treasurer Sannaf Palakandy and secretary Mohan Kuriyal.
