An autorickshaw can barely pass through the Railway underpass on the Burial Ground Road at Chakkorathukulam if the driver is careful enough to keep the handle steady and if there are no vehicles coming in the opposite direction. Small car owners will be lucky if there are no scratches on their vehicles after passing through the century-old underpass, which causes immense inconvenience to people on the western side of the Railway line.
The road, commonly known as B.G. Road, and officially Cherot Surendran Road, is one of the few links between Kannur Road and Beach Road in Kozhikode as it starts from Chakkorathukulam and ends at Vellayil with a sharp turn around the 67-acre burial ground, considered the second largest in Asia. “The narrow Railway underpass is a huge inconvenience to people visiting the burial ground. It cannot even accommodate an ambulance,” said Mithun Cherot, convenor of the local action committee that had taken up the task of developing the underpass six months ago.
“People from the eastern side of the railway have to cross the rail using either Bhatt Road or Gandhi Road flyover to reach the burial ground. If the underpass is broad enough, the distance that they travel can be reduced by at least four km, Mr. Cherot said.
The committee has petitioned to the Palakkad Divisional Manager of the Indian Railways demanding that the underpass be developed in such a way that ambulances can pass through it.
“A Railway gate was sanctioned for the location 30 years ago, but it did not materialise. Now that the authorities are getting rid of even the existing gates, it is not an option. The road is not wide enough to accommodate an overbridge either. So, our only option is to get the underpass widened,” Mr. Cherot added.
The committee has sought the help of Thottathil Raveendran, MLA, and M.K. Raghavan, MP, besides calling upon Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to address people’s concerns.
