MARGAO
Hundreds of travellers were left stranded at the Nessai railway crossing in Sao Jose de Areal after the railways closed the gate to execute the job of
replacing the old rails along the line. What, however, infuriated the travelling public was that the railways carried out the job without informing the local panchayat and police and without issuing any public notice.Motorcycle riders and four- wheelers were stranded on both sides of the railway track after the railways shut the crossing to lay the new
line. A senior railway official informed that the railways are presently carrying out the job of replacing the old rail with the new rail. The travellers, however, contended that they have no objection to the ongoing work of replacing the rails, saying the least the railways could have done was inform the locals of the closure of the railway crossing on Monday evening Work had commenced on the replacement of the rails in the morning before the railways suddenly closed the railway crossing to lay the new rail. Compared to the old rails with a 13-metre length, the new rails are 260 metres in length, which are safer than the old ones. Sao Jose de Areal deputy sarpanch Valente said in the morning the railways failed to intimate the sarapnch nor the police about the closure of the Nessai railway crossing. “All traffic on both sides of the Nessai railway crossing has come to a halt. If the railways had to intimate by giving prior notice, the travellers would have adjusted by taking alternate routes,” he said, adding that he called up the police after being told of the traffic snarls on both sides of the railway crossing.A motorcycle rider Inacio Dias pointed out that he has been stranded at the railway crossing for more than an hour and a half, adding that he would have had a different route had the railways issued
a public notice.Another traveller termed the railway’s decision to shut the railway crossing as dadagiri, demanding to know why the railways did not intimate the public before closing the crossing.
