Title - 5,000 signatures collected in campaign for rail overbridge at Ghorpadi

PUNE: Over 50 members of the Ghorpadi-Mundhwa Railway Overbridge Committee started a signature campaign on Sunday, reiterating their demand for an overbridge at Ghorpadi to end the traffic chaos on the arterial road.The activists had collected nearly 5,000 signatures by the end of the day and said they would hold such campaigns every Sunday in different areas.For over seven years, residents of Ghorpadi and nearby areas have been demanding that a rail overbridge be constructed to help motorists and pedestrians cross two railway level-crossing gates. Every day, traffic grinds to a halt at the two manned crossings as vehicles wait for the trains to pass.The level crossings are located on the busy arterial road in Ghorpadi, which leads from Pune cantonment to upscale areas like Kalyaninagar, Vimannagar, Mundhwa and Pune-Ahmednagar Road. Two railway lines intersect with this road within half a kilometre.The crossings are closed many times during a day, causing huge traffic snarls. Residents say the traffic congestion worsens during peak hours between 8 and 11 am and between 4 and 8 pm.Lt Col (retd) M K Gupta Ray, convenor of the Ghorpadi-Mundhwa Railway Overbridge Committee, said four government and civic authorities - the railways, defence authorities, Pune Municipal Corporation and Pune Cantonment Board - need to sort out land availability and other issues together, which will facilitate construction of the overbridge.

"When the railway lines were laid over 100 years ago, Ghorpadi was a small village which was not even part of the city. Today, Ghorpadi is an integral part of Pune. The main road from Ghorpadi is a busy road with heavy traffic. People face hardships because they have to stop at the two railway crossings," he said. Ray pointed out that as many as 180 trains pass on the two tracks everyday, for which the level-crossing gates have to be closed.

He said the committee will send letters, along with thousands of signatures, to ministries in the central government every week and will continue to follow up with the PMC, Pune Cantonment Board and defence authorities.