Residents want flyover on Sirhind canal completed

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 24

Residents of the city have been demanding the construction of a flyover on the Sirhind canal in the city. The bridge will connect Model Town Phase IV and V with ward number 2 and villages located on the outskirts of the city.

Municipal councillor from ward number 5, Sukhdev Singh Brar said he met the Mayor and the MCB officials a few days back and demanded that work on the project be initiated soon.

He said work on the flyover had begun after its foundation stone was laid by Member of Parliament from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal, but the work was stopped later for reasons unknown. He said if the flyover is constructed, it would provide relief to the residents in commuting.

Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Kothe Amarpure, said “If the flyover comes up, it would be easy to go to the city as at present we have to take the GT road which is far off and has more traffic.”

It is pertinent to mention that ahead of the elections on December 13, 2016, Harsimrat Kaur Badal had laid the foundation stone of a flyover that was to be constructed over the Sirhind canal to end traffic bottlenecks on Goniana road . It would have meant commuters coming from the Gonaina road entering the city without any traffic snarls.

The flyover was to be three metres wide with four lanes to enable four-wheelers ply. After the preparation of a detailed project report (DPR), Rs 3.5 crore was released to the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) for the project.

The tender and work order for the project was also released and the BDA even took permission from the irrigation department to start the work. Flow of water in the canal was also stopped and sidelining was done on both the sides. But the Congress government stopped work due to fund crunch and even cancelled the release of a fund of Rs 3.5 crore for the project.

The decision of the government has disappointed a large number of residents of the 12 colonies which were expecting direct connectivity with this part of the city through the flyover.