500 acres of crops affected, many died and injured in train accidents

Raipur: NTPC’s railway
line from Tilaipali to Lara has affected thousands of acres of farming and
agricultural land. About 61 bridges are being built in this 65-km railway line
so that there is no problem in the movement of the affected villagers.

Over 90 per cent of the
land of the villagers of village Bhikharimal in Raigarh district is located in
Jammuda, Farsidih, Junadih, Mudabhag, Chakradoli towards Kotraliya road outside
the village and the road leading here has been dug up by the NTPC railway
project and are not being constructed. In such a situation, the villagers are
facing trouble to do farming work in their about 500 acres of land. If the
underpass is to be made for the railway line, then a pit of about 20 to 22 feet
has been dug and its slope is also such that neither the bullock cart is able
to cross it nor the harvester. An alternate unpaved road has been made in which
vehicles are getting stuck every day.

The problem does not
end here, after going a short distance, the gate on the way to Kotarlia station
has also been removed due to the new line. The underpass that has been built is
filled with water up to 10 feet. People are forced to cross the Mumbai-Howrah
main railway line and accidents are happening here every day as villagers have
to travel an additional 14 km to cross the railway line. This situation has
been created here since last 3 years.

According to the
villagers, since then 6 people have lost their lives in train accidents and the
same number of people have been victims of the accident. Several vehicles got
stuck in the track and were shattered after colliding with the train there. Over
2,000 villagers directly and 10,000 indirectly are affected by these roads.

Kashiram, a 65-year-old
farmer from Bhikharimal said that due to the blocking of the road to these
fields, 50 per cent of their crops could not be harvested as they could not go
there. Now that the crop is on the verge of ripening, he can neither take the
bullock cart nor the harvester. 

Similar is the
condition of 70-year-old farmer Tankdhar Pradhan who told that the path is not
right, he himself has fallen many times but he cannot leave the 8-acre field
just like that. Due to the digging of the main road without any other way, many
nearby villages are facing problems of life and property on the other side.

Rural Rohit Pradhan said
that we protested many times to block the road from Bhikharimal to Kotraliya
but no one listened to us. Then there have been many life-changing incidents in
crossing the railway line directly due to non-availability of gates and
alternate underpass for 3 years. The administration should take immediate
cognizance of this.

The agitated villagers
are gearing up to launch a mass movement if their demands are not met at the earliest.