Residents of Ghorpadi and Mundhwa demand rail overbridge at level-crossing

Ghorpadi Mundhwa Railway Overbridge Committee (GMROBC) on Sunday organised a signature campaign at Pingale Wasti temple demanding a rail overbridge at Ghorpadi level-crossing. As many as 2,000 signatures of Ghorpadi and Mundhwa residents were obtained in support of the proposed overbridge. The residents said absence of the overbridge has been a great cause of inconvenience to them for years.

Convenor of the committee Gupta Ray said that they obtained around 1,000 signatures on the opening day of the campaign last week.

"The signature campaign that started last week will be held every weekend through this month. We hope to obtain at least 5,000 signatures by month-end following which we will send a letter to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Union Defence Minister, Chief of Army and all others who can help resolve the issue," said Ray.

The issue of Ghorpadi-Mundhwa rail overbridge has been dragging on for nine years now. Around 170 trains pass through the area daily and the frequency of the trains increases every year.

"We have to wait for around 30 minutes for the railway crossing gates to open. There is huge volume of traffic on both the sides and invariably the crossing is choked. There have been incidents where pregnant women have delivered babies and patients have breathed their last owing to the delay caused by the closed gates in reaching hospitals," said Alok Pandit, a member of the committee.

A major part of the area where railway overbridge is to be constructed comes under Pune Cantonment Board.

"The residents of the area and the administration seems to have not realised the gravity of the situation. The administration claims that the military is not releasing the required land and the military thinks the bridge will gravely affect their security arrangements," said Pandit.

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