Amritsar residents decry slow pace of work on Joda Phatak RUB, Vallah ROB

Amritsar, March 23

The slow pace of construction work on the railway underbridge (RUB) at Joda Phatak and railway overbridge (ROB) at Vallah has irked commuters who fail to reach their destination on time. They demand early completion of these projects.

Bhajan Singh, a resident of Judge Nagar near the Joda Phatak, says they have to wait for quite a while at these railway crossings.

Even as the RUB at Joda Phatak had been finding a mention in the speeches of leaders of different political parties over the years. But it was only a year after the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU train mowed down at least 60 people and injured 72 injured (on October 19, 2018) at Joda Phatak that the government gave its approval to the construction of the RUB at a cost of Rs 25.50 crore in November 2019.

Shivpal, another resident, said the overbridge would bring an end to traffic chaos and would facilitate commuters on a daily basis. It was a long-pending demand of the residents to raise the overbridge as densely populated localities were situated around it.

On October 15, 2018, then Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had laid the foundation stones of five projects, including the RUB and ROB, worth Rs 127.86 crore in the city. The projects were aimed at boosting the infrastructure of the old town and reducing traffic congestion.

The ROB, for which Rs 34 crore was earmarked, is already behind schedule. Manjit Singh, a resident of Bhilowal village, says the construction time of the ROB was taking a heavy toll on the movement of public. A large number of farmers, traders, consumers and people from nearby villages commute on the stretch. However, due to kutcha and circuitous railway crossing connecting the main road leave the people in the lurch. Had there been a straight road laid, they would not have faced such problems.

Officials associated with the project said a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the ROB at Vallah was granted by the Ministry of Defence only in last November. They assured that the construction work would be completed soon.