Iron grills go missing

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Amritsar, May 28

Unidentified miscreants stole iron grills installed recently alongside the green belt at Outer Ring Road during a façade development project. More than 100 pieces of iron grills are reported to be missing from the area between Lahori Gate to Chatiwind Gate. Ironically, the project is still in progress. Residents of the area claimed that drug addiction leads to such incidents. They are suspecting that addicts steal the grills and arrange money to buy drugs by selling it to scrap dealers.

The practice continues mostly because of the indifference of the authorities concerned. The damage to grills has caused a setback to the project in the walled city.

The government has spent crores on development of the road’s facade, which was aimed at improving infrastructure and providing a traditional look to the ring road around the old city. Heavy iron grills were installed on both sides of the road for safety of the commuters and also to protect the green belt from stray cattle.

“The authorities should make efforts to identify those behind this act of vandalism. The removal of the iron grills has affected the beauty of the road. The beautification project is still not complete and the infrastructure developed in the past has been damaged. The incident highlights the issue of drug addiction in the Amritsar South constituency,” said Sandeep, a resident of Gate Hakiman Wala.