Bareilly: Local residents organised a ‘mahapanchayat’ at Chaudhary Talab on Saturday to protest against closing down of crossing number 244, popularly known as Hartmann Crossing. The passage was stopped by the authorities on May 5 to make way for an overhead bridge in its place. Residents are angry because they would have to take a detour of at least 2 km to reach the nearest destination across the tracks.
As hundreds of locals participated in the agitation, a huge police force was deployed to ensure that no untoward incident takes place. The four-hour-long agitation was called off after BJP MLA Arun Kumar told the gathering he would take up the matter with railiway authorities to find a solution.
The railway authorities were struggling to close the said crossing since the past three years and finally, managed to close it in the presence of Railway Protection Police (RPF), Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and civil police on May 5.
As per public relation officer (PRO) Izzat Nagar division Rajendra Singh, “Hartmann Crossing was closed on instructions from railway ministry as an overhead bridge was to be constructed by railways to facilitate commuters using that stretch of the road.”
Singh said, “As per guidelines, once the overhead bridge is built, the passage will become smoother for the commuters. Also it will eliminate chances of untoward incidents. However in this case, locals want us to reopen the said crossing so that they could use the passage freely. This is not possible as of now.”
He said, “In what may be taken as another barrier to the project, a large number of locals from adjoining localities including Gulan Nagar, Chaudhary Talab, Ashraf Khan Chavani,Siddhart Nagar, Ram Leela Gautiya, Anand Vihar, Saidpur Hakins, Bankhana and several other localities gathered at Chaudhary Talab on Saturday and declared they would use force to open the crossing.
Amit Kumar, a resident of Ashraf Khan Chavani told TOI, “Railway officials should think twice before permanently closing down the crossing. The passage is integral to thousands of commuters who cross it on a daily basis. As several prominent schools are located across the tracks, the route is used not only by children but also by elders.”
The mahapanchayat lasted longer than four hours with the police ensuring that no one crossed the tracks. Police said only after the BJP’s Arun Kumar who along with a few representatives of the mahapanchayat went to the divisional railway manager (DRM) office, but as he was not present, they met other senior railway officials.
Meanwhile, locals also threatened to boycott polls if the crossing is not reopened.