A ladder takes these families to main road

CHIKMAGALUR: For a few families living below the new railway overbridge near Hiremagalur, going out and coming into their homes demands a peculiar exercise: they carry a ladder, slant it over the wall of the bridge and climb up or down, as the situation demands.
This has been going on for the past eight months, ever since the bridge was completed for the Kadur-Chikmagalur line.
Their houses were located by the roadside before the overbridge was constructed. Then, they were assured that a service road would be laid which would connect them to the main road. The families believed the railway authorities and waited for their road. But it is yet to make an appearance.
Though work is complete, the railway department's assurance has not translated into action. So the ladder, which was a temporary measure to help reach the Belur-Chikmagalur road at a height of 15ft, has now become routine.
J Kurian, who was running a small hotel here, had to shut shop once construction began. He is now working as a daily wage labourer. Kurian worries about children and elders. "Adults can climb the ladder and reach the road, but schoolchildren find it difficult to climb up and down. We have to climb up along with the children to put them safely on the road. It is dangerous for elders too. The only alternative left is to sit on a dharna before the deputy commissioner's office to demand the service road," said Kurian.
The deputy commissioner had visited the spot and assured them that the service road would be laid, but his promise has not been fulfilled either. Local railway authorities dismissed the issue, saying the district administration has to tackle the problem, and build the service road.