Amritsar, December 24
The slow pace of construction of the ROB on Number 22 phatak has not only caused inconvenienced to thousands of residents using the road to reach the city, but has also caused frequent traffic jams in nearby areas. The road from Khalsa College of Women towards Islamabad on which lies railway crossing number 22 is used by people entering the city the Jhabal side, especially educational institutions as Guru Nanak Dev University and Khalsa College.
Similarly, the road is also used by government and private employees living in nearby localities on the GT road to get to their work in Tarn Taran district. “It has been over two years and the work is still unfinished. Perhaps it would be the next Lok Sabha elections that the project would be completed,” said a resident Vipan. The shopkeepers on the stretch, especially the ones, who run their businesses from the area in the construction zone, complained that their businesses have been ruined. The road is blocked from both the sides due to the construction.
The unavailability of space on the road for the movement of traffic has certainly increased a rush of vehicles on the Islamabad-Putlighar chowk. As the railways has also shifted its cleaning line to Chheharta, the crossing is often closed due to the movement of trains towards the cleaning line. “While there is no rush on the stretch due to the ongoing construction work on the Islamabad-Khalsa College road, the increase in frequency of railway crossing near Pipli Sahib gurdwara is causing a huge trouble to the commuters,” said Amanpreet Singh, a shopkeeper.
The residents demanded increasing the pace of the construction work so that traffic could move easily in the area. They also demanded that the encroachments, especially a display of goods by shopkeepers on the road outside their shops, needed to be checked. Apart from encroachments by shopkeepers, the haphazard parking of two wheelers and four wheelers is also a hurdle in the way of traffic.
Mayor Karamjit Singh Sandhu said the work of the project was being monitored closely. He said as the project involved railways and Central Government departments, the local administration is dependent on them for the completion of the work.
