Ludhiana | Pakhowal road ROB to take 6 more months for completion

Already marred by delay, the project to construct a railway over bridge (ROB) at Pakhowal road railway crossing has further hit a roadblock with the authorities halting the work to construct an approach road for ROB near Hero Bakery chowk (towards Bhai Bala chowk).

The work has been put to halt for the last few months with the municipal corporation (MC) officials working to make changes in the design of the beam due to some technical issues.

Despite missing several deadlines, the authorities claim that it will further take around six more months to complete the entire project.

Traffic chaos witnessed in the area due to the incomplete project has perturbed commuters and shopkeepers.

Initiated in December 2020, the authorities had set August 31, 2021 as the deadline for the ₹124-crore project to construct two Road Under Bridge (RUBs) and a ROB at Pakhowal road railway crossing, but the deadline is being subsequently extended even as the public continue to face harrowing time at ground level. The project is being taken up under the Smart City Mission.

Member of Punjab Road Safety Council Rahul Verma said. “The movement of traffic on Pakhowal road, Malhar road and Sarabha nagar has been disturbed due to the ongoing construction work of Pakhowal road ROB project, but the authorities are still delaying the project.”

“The construction work commenced only after completing the detailed project report (DPR). Then, why the authorities need to make changes in the design at this stage? The work of only two spans has been left at that side of the bridge and the rest has been completed. Also, parking should not be allowed under the flyover as the movement of heavy vehicles might damage the beam and result in an accident,” Verma said.

Meanwhile, MC executive engineer Balwinder Singh said he has been recently given the charge of the project. “There was some technical issue regarding the beam due to which the work was stopped at the site. The department is working to resolve the issue and the construction work of approach road will be commenced soon,” he said, adding that the work was in progress on the other side of the bridge and expected that the entire project would be completed within the next six months.

Detours, long jams order of the day

The delay in completing the project continues to trouble the public with the movement of traffic being disturbed in the area at large.

As the stretch from Hero Bakery chowk towards Pakhowal road canal bridge has been closed to facilitate the construction work, commuters have been facing a harrowing time as they have to take a detour to reach their destination. It has also been resulting in traffic chaos at the diverted routes and shopkeepers at the closed stretch are also fumed over low footfall in the market.

The MC has opened the RUB leading from Pakhowal road canal bridge towards Sarabha Nagar, but few elements of the project are still missing, including the installation of lights.

One of the shopkeepers near Pakhowal road railway crossing, Gurjeet Singh, said, “The business has been hit due to the ongoing construction work even as we have to reach our shop by taking a detour due to the road blockages.”

“ The authorities should expedite the work as one-and-a-half year has already elapsed, but the project is nowhere near completion. Commuters have been suffering a lot. The authorities claim that the project will be completed within the next six months, but we still doubt their claims,” Singh said,