Fatehgarh Churian road widening hangs fire

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

Last year the state government, during the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji, had announced plans to widen the Fatehgarh Churian road -- one of the prominent stretches leading to Dera Baba Nanak town, adjoining the international border between India and Pakistan. A thumping amount of Rs88 crore was to be spent for the works.

Situated close to Amritsar, Fatehgarh Churian falls in Gurdaspur district and the 24-km stretch is links both. Exactly after four months, on August 15, after unfurling the national flag at the Guru Nanak Dev stadium, Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had announced that the main road from Amritsar to Dera Baba Nanak connecting Kartarpur Corridor would be widened by 33 ft. He had also said the work would start the same day. As per it, initially the road up to Fatehgarh Churian was to be widened following which the project would cover Dera Baba Nanak. However, the digging of trenches began; and that is where the task ended as well.

The Public Works Department (PWD) only dug trenches up to a few kilometers. The officials claimed that they had been forced to halt the work due to the discommoding weather conditions. Now, a year has passed and the project is still awaiting resumption. But Sukhjinder claimed that funds had been released and the government will complete the entire project within two years. Meanwhile, commuters criticised the government for the furrows as it had led to many accidents.

Inderjit Singh, Executive Engineer, PWD, said, “We have dug trenches but weather was not favorable for the work. We were stopped due to rainy season. Now, we will restore the work within two or three days and complete it in within record time.”

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