Padil road under bridge gets Railways clearance.

With the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) clearing it, the much-delayed Rs. 4.96-crore Road Under Bridge (RUB) to avoid the manned level crossing on Padil-Bajal Road near Mangalore Junction Railway Station is set to become a reality.

The project - keenly awaited by thousands of harrowed road users - is expected to be completed in a year's time. Palakkad Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Anand Prakash told The Hindu recently that the tender for the project will be called soon and the work would commence immediately after the monsoons.

He said the CRS had expressed doubts about the box-pushing technology to be adopted to drill underground bore to construct the RUB without affecting the functioning of the level-crossing. However, the Railways had convinced the CRS on the safety of the technology.

While boring the ground, precautions would be taken to ensure that the earth does not cave in, Mr. Prakash said. A shield would be in place to prevent any accident. 'This is an accepted technology now,' he said.

Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) is expected to bear half the cost of the project. The DRM said the Railways had already received the amount due from the MCC.


THE HINDU