Dilapidated Rego Bridge a distant dream

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 22

The re-construction of the dilapidated Rego Railway Overbridge (ROB) still seems to be a distant dream. The commuters are being forced to face traffic pangs.

The upper surface of the ROB, popularly known as Rego Bridge, has peeled off at several places. It has a lot of potholes. Besides, drizzling for the past two days has turned these holes into puddles. Since waterlogging makes it difficult to notice potholes, commuters, mainly bikers, are having a harrowing time.

Vijay Kumar, a resident of Railway Colony, situated close to the ROB, said, “Cracks are a common sight under the ROB.”

Iron railings and barricading, meant to prevent commuters from walking on its ramshackle sides, have also been removed.

Another resident, Ashwani Kapoor, said its seemed that the rickety condition and its antiquity for over a century had failed to make the authorities concerned swing into action. He said the entry of heavy vehicles remained restricted here for long but, somehow, the iron barricading had been removed and heavy vehicles were using it. “It needs to be restricted to avert any untoward accident,” he added.

The ROB offers short and comparatively wide roads to commuters between the western side of the city spread on the GT road and the southern part, via Gobindgarh Fort.

Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) Superintending Engineer Rajiv Sekhri said the design for the new bridge was approved by the railway and also endorsed by the Director, Bridges. However, the project is now awaiting funds from the Municipal Corporation.