Mangalore : If the Adyar crossing witnessed a gory mishap wherein a woman was killed and five others were injured when their mini bus rammed against a goods train on June 30, a day after, on July 1, Monday, the railway officials who arrived at the spot early in the morning to close the crossing met with stiff resistance from locals.
Hundreds of residents of Adyarkatte, Neermarga and Adyarpadavu who assembled at the place on gathering information regarding the arrival of officials said they will not allow the road to be closed, but instead asked the Railway Officials to make the crossing an authorized crossing and have a sentry appointed there.
In fact, this has been a demand since the past several years which has gone unheard of. The Adyar crossing is not in the list of authorized railway crossings of the department. Local residents pointed out that the closure of the crossing would hit them hard as it was the nearest route from Adyar to Neermarga and other places.
They even tried to stop a Bangalore train for a few seconds but later allowed the train to move following a request by railway officials. The locals also urged the authorities to have road humps in the area.
The situation cooled down after local MP Nalin Kumar Kateel arrived and tried to pacify the locals. He asked the railway officials to suspend the works and said a meeting would be convened later in the day at Circuit House with the officials concerned to discuss the issue. He also assured that the underpass works would be taken up at the earliest.
Sudhaker Adyar, Vice President of Adyar Gram Panchayat, Surendra Kambali and former GP Chief were among the protestors.