Title - Level crossing: clear and present danger

Children crossing unmanned level crossings a few times a day make their parents and other family members anxious about their safety.M. Pankajakshan Nair, a staff member of the Ambalapuzha Kunchan Nambiar Smarakam, who lives near a level crossing close to the Ambalapuzha temple remembers the time when the crossing was still unmanned.“I used to be worried whether the children had crossed the railway line safely or not. A large number of vehicles too crossed it everyday. Another level crossing at Karumadi that was near a school was very dangerous and a couple of persons lost their lives there,” he says.

Approach road: Asif Habeeb, who lives near the Bapu Vaidyar level crossing where four persons died some years ago, says the approach road to the crossing, which is still unmanned, is dangerous.“There are a couple of schools nearby. Vehicles transporting fish in this coastal area speed across the level crossing without a thought, especially between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. when a lot of trains pass through the area,” he says.D. Priyeshkumar, president of the Kanjikuzhy block panchayat in the district, says level crossings, even if manned, pose a lot of problems. “The people of Thiruvizha, Kanichukulangara, and Mararikulam find it difficult to transport the sick to the Medical College Hospital owing to the delay at these level crossings that are closed for long periods following the increase in the number of trains. As the area has many educational institutions and many tourist spots, we are demanding that a rail overbridge be constructed,” he says.

Feeling safe

V.G. Sankaran Velachira, who does painting work, says the situation at the level crossing at S.L. Puram near Poopallikavu where four lives, including that of the German couple Manfred Herbert Gustav Rudolf Hoepfner and Katrin-Susanne Hoepfner, were lost in 2010 has improved much after it was manned. “People feel safe to travel through the level crossing now,” he says.

Karappuram Rajasekharan, who put forward the idea of a bamboo gate manned by local people without waiting for Railways to act soon after the accident at S.L. Puram, says it was difficult to see trains coming from Alappauzha towards Ernakulam while passing the level crossing.

“There were many minor accidents, including one in which a mini lorry loaded with coir products was hit by a goods train, but the driver had a miraculous escape. Those who knew that the gate was unmanned stopped before it and ensured that there was no train coming. Frequent accidents created fear among the people travelling through the area. But with the gate now being manned, people are experiencing a sense of relief,” he says.