T’puram: In a partial, but significant relief to residents of Vattavila Suresh road, Southern Railway has constructed a 3.5m wide concrete road in lieu of a portion of public road dug out in connection with the rail doubling works near Nemom railway station.Though railways agreed to construct the road after repeated pleas, the promise got momentum only after state human rights commission’s intervention and district collector Anu Kumari’s committed efforts to implement the order. A major portion of the road leading to Nemom junction was acquired by state govt twice and handed over to railways for rail development. On both occasions railway devoured the public road and dug out a trench in the acquired land and through which it laid railway track to make up the height difference in the undulating topography. On top of it, state govt had received over Rs 1.15 crore from railways as compensation for the 9.5 cents of public road it handed over to the railways as per 2021, that too without acquiring additional land to connect the severed ends of the public road.Nemom Action Council which brought to light the financial deal between govt and railways in connection with the acquisition of public road petitioned the railway, state govt and central govt. But it was an order by SHRC that proved a turning point as the panel directed the district administration to take a two-tier approach to resolve the road issue. It wanted the district collector to ensure that railways construct a road on the land under its custody first and then look into the Nemon Action Council’s demand that the state govt should acquire additional land and construct a public road that would be free from the intervention of railways in future.SHRC instructed the district administration to work out the cost and feasibility of additional land acquisition and road construction as demanded by the council. Though the council wanted railways to increase the height of the retaining wall that runs parallel to the railway track, but sits far below the road surface, the railway authorities rejected the same.
