Ahead of G-20 summit, poor infra, sanitation big challenge

Tribune News Service

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, November 18

Though, the administration has started preparations to organise the G-20 summit, the city seems ill-equipped to host such an event. The holy city has been witnessing regular traffic jams, poor road infrastructure and sanitation conditions.

However, in a recent meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee of the Municipal Corporation, the authorities approved a large amount of funds to improve the condition of some roads and streets but the city needs infrastructural development to get rid of the problems.

Traffic congestion on roads is one of the major problems being discussed on every platform in the city. The MC has failed to develop parking spaces in the city as per the increasing number of vehicles.

In the absence of proper public transport, the number of personal vehicles is swiftly increasing on city roads and in markets. Also, there are only a few parking lots, which charge heavy amount for service, and thus residents often park their vehicles on the road which leads to traffic congestion.

Naveen Sharma, a resident , said: “With the MC’s nod, a number of commercial centres have come up on Mall Road. Due to this, major traffic jams are witnessed and footpaths and roadside spaces are encroached. The MC must take action against the violators. Similarly, on the Lawrence Road, shopkeepers have encroached upon parking space with

the connivance of political leaders and MC officials.”

Activists demanded that the MC should implement the street-vending zone scheme to remove encroachments.

Another problem in the city is poor road infrastructure. During the past five years, only a few roads have been recarpeted. A project worth Rs 46 crore has been initiated to recarpet link roads but the roads infrastructure needs more funds.

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