Mangaluru: The railway over bridge situated in Kodakkal near Padil, here on the Mangaluru to Bengaluru National Highway 44 has been creating big nuisance for commuters and motorists, especially the two-wheeler riders, from a very long period. Human waste dropping from the moving express train toilets has turned out to be a major inconvenience for motorists at this over-bridge. Having been splashed with human excreta at this point, they feel uneasy to move when trains cross. The reason: there is no proper cover under the tracks to prevent such occurrences. The issue now is that the bridge initially had an iron sheet covering under the tracks to prevent the toilet waste from dropping down to the road. But over a certain period of time due to lack of maintenance the sheet has been damaged. Even though, commuters have been demanding construction of a thin concrete layer or a steel sheet beneath the bridge so as to avoid the inconvenience, but their requests have been in vain.
When the train passes right above the over bridge the toilet wastes directly fall over the vehicles travelling below. Mean while some arrangements were done by locals to prevent this inconvenience to public. Unfortunately the temporary arrangement didn’t last long. Few locals who are aware of this issue, always make sure that they stop their vehicle and wait for the train to pass, thereby avoiding the human wastes and toilet water dropped from the moving trains- and then proceed further.Even though motorists stop vehicles at a considerable distance away from the bridge, sometimes they cannot escape from toilet water that gets sprayed through the air. While the others who are totally unaware of this get fooled thinking that it’s the water being dropped from the moving train.
This problem is there for several years. School going children, work/office-goers are facing annoyance because of this. Even some people who were already aware of the problem also sometimes crossed the bridge due to urgency and get splashed with dirty water and filth. People who are travelling by cars face no problem here. It is only motorcyclists who are facing trouble while travelling through these railway subways. If toilet water falls on them, they have to return home and take bath again. In a recent incident, a small stone from a stone laden goods train had fallen over on the front wind shield of a car that was passing on the highway beneath the over-bridge, causing damage to the wind shield and leaving behind a loss to the owner of the car.
The worst situation here is especially when the train stops right above the bridge, waiting for the green signal from the nearby Mangalore Junction Railway Station. In this case, the Highway Commuters are left behind with confusion whether to move on or to wait till the train passes. People of this area demand an immediate solution to this problem. They say that a simple metal sheet or a thin concrete slab underneath the tracks or fix the dilapidated sheets would do the trick.
It would be of great help to public if this issue is brought in to the notice of the concerned authority and measures are taken to prevent further problems or damages to the Highway Commuters and motorists. Media is one smart way to not only bring this issue to the notice of the concerned, but also to the Highway Commuters who are unaware of this incident.
Additional points from Alfie D’souza-Team Mangalorean: In response to the above story sent in by Deepthi Rani, I decided to take a ride to this location to click some photographs, to be incorporated along with her report. Speaking to few commuters around Kodakkal/Padil area, I was able to collect the following comments :
Shridhar– a employee at Sahyadri College-Adyar: ” I am glad that you are highlighting this civic issue through your website. I take this road every single day, and many a times I have to wait for long until the train clears the over-head tracks. You can see toilet waste, water (could be water mixed with urine) landed right on the road- sometimes this spot is fully wet with fallen toilet water from the passing by trains. I only wish the railway authorities do something about this”.
Shalini– an IT employee: ” I ride my scooter every day to work, and I have to pass under this bridge. Many a times I have seen dirty water from the trains sprinkled from above fall right on the moving vehicles. To avoid this nuisance I sometimes take a different route, although it is little too much distance from my regular route. The concerned authorities should rectify this problem”
Manohar– a resident of Padil: “I ride my motorcycle, and have to take this road to do my errands. Once when I was on my way to a wedding reception, without noticing the train passing on the bridge, I kept going. For my bad luck dirty yellow substance fell right on my white shirt from above. It was stinking- I had to return back home, take a shower, change my shirt, and then attend the wedding reception- and I was late. Too bad that the railway department is not fixing the open holes on the tracks, so that toilet waste doesn’t fall below on the commuters”.
Ramesh/Alwyn – school children: ” We always wait till the train passes by. But sometimes when we run late to school, we take chances to cross the over-bridge even when the train is moving. We cover our head/body with our school bags- many a times dirty water from above falls on our school bags, and we have to bear with the stink during our class hours.
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