Agitated villagers met in a deputation to the DM of North Tripura on Thursday (August 13) for the construction of a railway level crossing. Villagers are demanding for the level-crossing for quite a long time. Several times, they blocked the rail track to draw attention
The villagers threatened that they would block the railway line again if the construction of a level crossing or over bridge doesn’t start by August 16. The agitators are from Chandrahalam Para ADC village of Panisagar subdivision.
Speaking about the meeting, president of Ranglong Youth Association, Neiluomoni Ranglong said, “A fruitful meeting with the District Magistrate & Collector of North District and also Senior Engineer (SSE) of NRF of Dharmanagar was held on August 13. A strong assurance regarding safe level crossing at Rothabil (Ranglong Village) was given to us by both.
The villagers had blocked the railway track earlier on August 11 from 7 am in the morning. Villagers between the age of 8 and 80, including both men and women, had participated in the blockade. They did not end the blockade despite requests from the SDM and MLA Binay Bhusan Das. They finally ended the blockade at 8pm after getting assurance from the DM.
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The railway track cuts through a village road between Pillar No 59/6 and 59/7. The villagers said that safety of villagers and farm animals were at stake due to absence of level-crossing. They also pointed out that several accidents took place in the stretch in recent past. They have been demanding for a level crossing or overbridge near the track since 2008. However, nothing has been done by the railway department in this regard. The railway department apparently wants to construct a wall along the track but the villagers said that would completely seal off the road that is being used by around 250 families.
