Sangramnagar residents threaten suicide

AURANGABAD: Enraged by the concerned authorities’ lack of interest, about 250 residents of Sangramnagar while resorting to rasta roko threatened to commit mass suicide if their demand for a railway underground bridge (RUB) is not met with.
Blaming the lack of progress in the project, Shirmant Gorde Patil, president of Metro Aurangabad Association said, “As the concerned authorities are not showing any concern, we have decided to take the agitation to a next level.Today we have resorted to rasta roko andolan which was attended by a large number of local residents including women and senior citizens. We are planning to observe a hunger strike on Friday in front of the city office of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.”
Gorde Patil further said that the residents need the facility desperately. “The existing railway bridge is blocked due to frequent traffic jams, which causes a lot of inconvenience to the residents staying in the locality. Hence, the need for an additional RUB cannot be brushed aside,” he added.
About 250 residents including area corporator Shobha Burande gathered at Dargaha Chowk on Thursday and shouted slogans in support of the RUB. The group of residents are also demanding for the nearby level crossing to kept open until the construction of the proposed RUB.
The railway authorities are planning to close the level crossing by December 20 as they have already built a railway over bridge in the area. However, following the demand of the residents, the railways, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), municipal authorities and related agencies had decided to build an underground railway bridge on the spot in September this year. The railways had allotted four months to the district authorities to the make financial arrangements for construction of the new facility, but there has been no progress on the front till date.