Kalyan Nagar ROB is ready

Dharwad: The much awaited Kalyan Nagar Railway Overbridge (ROB) in Dharwad is ready to be dedicated to the public. The railway level crossing no 297 connects Kalyan Nagar, Danu Nagar, Attikolla and Ramnagar to Malamaddi and Station Road. Thousands of people and vehicles pass through this gate every day.
According to officials, the ROB will be ready for public use from March 20 but the date of official inauguration is yet to be fixed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Dharwad on March 11 to inaugurate the new campus of IIT-Dharwad and it is to be seen if the inauguration of the ROB will coincide with that.
The ROB has come up at a cost of Rs 15 crore, with the state government contributing 50 per cent of the cost. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Hubballi-Dharwad West MLA Arvind Bellad had taken the initiative for getting the ROB constructed.
Aneesh Hegde, chief PRO, South Western Railway told TOI that the dimension of the ROB will be (1x20 m PSC Girder)+ (1x30m Bow String Girder)+ 10x20m PSC Girder). SVS Prasad, the contractor who has constructed the ROB said the bridge has a 60 metre cement concrete road on Kalyan Nagar side and a 200 metre road on Gopalpur side. The width of the road on the bridge is 10.5 metres. While there will be footpaths with 1.5 metre width on either side, 7.5 metres will be for vehicular movement. A 30 metre bowstring pre-stressed steel girder has been launched on the tracks and the length of the concrete slab is 20 metres.
There was a long pending demand from the public for the construction of the ROB as frequent closure of the railway gate was causing great inconvenience to the people moving towards and from Kalyan Nagar.
In 2017, the railway ministry had announced in the budget, allocation of funds for construction of overbridge/underpass near Kalyan Nagar railway gate with a rider that the local body or the state government should contribute 50 per cent of the cost.
SVS Prasad said his firm has also bagged the contract for the construction of ROB at Shrinagar level crossing and Haliyal road level crossing in Dharwad and the work will commence soon.