Environmentalists oppose construction of underpass at Kukkarahalli Lake Junction; urge authorities to close LC-1

Mysuru: Some environmentalists have proposed to close the railway level crossing-1 (LC-1) instead of building a four-lane railway underpass/ underbridge at Kukkarahalli Lake Junction on Sir S Radhakrishnan Road in Mysuru.

They have been expressing concern about losing over 30 to 35 trees. They are also apprehensive about its impact on the heritage precinct, around the lake, which has inspired authors like Kuvempu and R K Narayan; and near heritage structures like Crawford Hall. They suggest to divert the vehicular traffic to other roads like Kalamandira Road, Vinoba Road and Saraswathipuram Fire Brigade Road.

However, PWD NH Mysuru sub-division officials claim that they have to implement the project worth Rs 38.29 crore to improve connectivity and also for road and railway safety, as it is under the CM's assurance programme. Besides demand from the public, in response to a query by former MLC Sandesh Nagaraj in the Karnataka Legislative Council in 2020, the then CM had assured of its implementation.

Detour required

Divisional Railway Manager, South Western Railways, Mudit Mittal, said that the LC-1 can be closed with the district administration's consent. But people will have to take a detour of a minimum of 500 metres on the either side.

According to the Railway officials, 14 trains, including seven to Chamarajanagar, one to Nanjangud and six to Ashokpuram railway station, make 28 trips per day on this stretch. People have to wait 5 minutes each time.

Mittal said, "There are no current plans to extend any train to Ashokpuram or start a new train in the Mysuru-Chamarajanagar section. However, we run extra trains as and when demand spikes."

Ravi Bale, retired engineer and activist, said, "The government should do a public consultation and seek experts' opinion to understand if they need such projects. They should explore sustainable alternatives before investing such huge amount of the tax payers' money. They should close the LC-1 for one or two years and see if the traffic can be diverted and if the RUB could be avoided."

Parashuramegowda of Parisarakkagi Naavu said people already take deviations the moment the railway gate is closed here.

Heritage road to be affected

Mysuru Heritage Experts Committee member N S Rangaraju opined, "This project affects the beauty of the heritage road. This road is a major catchment for the Kukkarahalli lake. Railways can maintain the level of the ROB of Vinoba Road and come up with another ROB at this junction too, instead of RUB. Within four km, there are already several ROBs - including on Vinoba Road and near KG Koppal."

PWD NH officials said the railway aims to replace all LCs with ROBs or RUBs by 2030. This project is taken up under Central Road and Infrastructure Fund Setu Bandhan Scheme of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Sir S Radhakrishnan Road connects from Banumaiah's College to Gaddige Road Junction connecting Vijaynagar third stage, Bogadi and several other areas. The railway gate has to be replaced by a ROB/RUB (Road Over/Under Bridge), if the Train-Vehicle Units (TVU) - daily number of trains passing a level crossing multiplied by the daily number of road vehicles is over 1,00,000. The other two roads are already choked with traffic. They may lose 30 to 35 trees. Among them, they may not be able to translocate six. The big banyan tree is already too old and it might fall any time.

As per the railway officials, the TVU at LC-1 is 2.15 lakh.