Pedestrian railway overbridges opened, with no stairs!

Two new railway overbridges in Ghaziabad were thrown open to the public on the first day of 2014. Residents of the area, however, were left with no means of using them, as they came with no stairs!

Residents voiced their concern after railway officials started constructing a wall, to close off the level crossings that were in use all this while.

"We paid the full amount of Rs.7 crore each to construct the staircases for pedestrians at Dasna and Nehru Nagar railway overbridges, but the flyovers were opened without verifying whether they could be used, as staircases have not been constructed yet by the construction agency, UP Bridge Corporation," chief engineer of the railways, Manoj Sharma, said.

"We are determined to close the level-crossing soon after the overbridges become functional. The railway cannot afford to keep a gateman to man level-crossings after the overbridges are opened. Moreover, payments have already been made for the construction of the staircases," Manoj Sharma said, when asked if the wall's construction could be delayed until staircases were erected.

Praveen Kumar, project manager of the UP Bridge Corporation said his agency would only construct the staircases once the railways finished its job. He said the railway overbridges were opened in a hurry, even though work was incomplete.

On Jan 1, Ghaziabad Development Authority vice chairman Santosh Yadav also opened three flyovers - Dasna, Nehru Nagar and Karhera Hindon - to the public. The three were constructed at a cost of Rs.148 crore.