Man dies after speeding lorry runs over his bicycle in Adilabad

Adilabad: A 32-year-old man died in a road accident near Tamsi bus stand railway bridge in Adilabad on Saturday morning when a lorry ran over Yusuf who was on his bicycle.

"Yusuf was on his way to work. As he was waiting on his bicycle at the railway signal, a lorry ran over him," said Abid, Yusuf's brother. The lorry driver reportedly surrendered at the police station.

Yusuf is a tea seller and a resident of Kranti Nagar in Adilabad. He is survived by his wife and two children.

People try to cross the railway tracks before the gate closes is a prevalent problem in Tamsi.

How many more lives should be lost?

The people of Adilabad have been demanding a railway overbridge above the railway gate between Umram and Adilabad stations for more than five years. But they continue to wait.

Narrow roads add to their woes as traffic clearance takes a long time even after the gate opens. The wait is mandatory for all vehicles despite their varying emergencies. Be it a school bus carrying kids to school or an ambulance rushing with a man battling for life. There have been casualties reported due to this delay as well.

Forty per cent of the people of Adilabad live on the other side of the railway gate. It is also a heavy traffic route as vehicles from neighbouring state of Maharashtra enter Telangana crossing this railway gate.

Once every two hours, the railway gate closes for almost 15-30 minutes. "If it's the cotton season, it could take up to one hour or more to clear the traffic as the cotton market is located near the railway gate," says Junaid Ahmed, a social activist from Khursheed Nagar in Adilabad who led the protests demanding a railway bridge.

The overbridge is expected to eliminate this delay and also allow heavy vehicles that go in and out of the city without interruption.

A place mostly deprived of other transportation options, this overbridge is going to secure its residents a respite from local autos and private vehicles. "The local autos and commercial vehicles always refuse to come to this area fearing the frequent gate closures," adds Junaid.

In the railway budget 2016, the Central government had sanctioned Rs. 25 crores for the construction of the railway overbridge at the Tamsi bus stand. The budget also specified that the state government should contribute the additional Rs. 51 crores required to complete the project. Five years have gone by and despite protests and marches, no one has turned up seeing the plight of these people.