Jamshedpur: The South Eastern Railways (SER) zone will replace two level crossings on the outskirts of Jamshedpur with road overbridges (ROB) to ease traffic congestions and streamline railway movement.In a notification issued last week, the SER said the level crossing numbers 137 and 138, located on Govindpur and Barigora on the Asanbani-Tatanagar railway section, will be replaced with ROBs. Departing from the previous arrangement, the SER said it will now bear the complete expense of the projects.Both the level crossings are on the busy Howrah-Mumbai railway route.Earlier, a proposal was approved to build the ROBs in a 50:50 cost sharing programme between the railways and Jharkhand govt. “However, given the critical operational challenges, the arrangement has now been revised,” the notification read.The heavy-train frequency on the busy triple-line A category route and heavy traffic on the level-crossing has prompted the railway to initiate the action, it further said.“Barigora and Govindpur level crossings have caused operational difficulties to the railways for a long time. Traffic on the level crossing not only affects the speed of trains, but regular accidents on the twin level-crossing pose safety risk for motorists,” said Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Mahato. It was Mahato’s proactive measures that led railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to direct the SER to take up ROB work.The SER has also proposed to build another ROB at Makhdumpur railway gate in Pursudih. “The matter is under consideration, as per the notification issued on February 13,” Mahato said.A team from the engineering department of the railway will soon visit the twin sites to make physical inspections prior to the process of preparing detailed plan report and awarding tender for the construction.
