New Golden Avenue residents protest partial development

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, January 3

Residents of the New Golden Avenue area held a protest against the civic authorities and their elected leaders here today for developing certain streets while ignoring main road.

A leader of the protestors, Harpinder Singh Walia, said a grant for laying of a new road was sanctioned for their area. He said, “However, instead of carpeting the kutcha main road, which has around 100 dwellings, leaders diverted the grant to streets where they have their own plots.” “The street, which has been laid recently, has only seven to eight houses and the rest are plots owned by lower-rung leaders, associated with the area MLA, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu,” he added.

The people raised slogans against Dr Sidhu and demanded basic amenities with immediate effect. The area falls under Ward No. 20, which comprises of Golden Avenue, New Golden Avenue, parts of Tehsilpura, Chamrang Road and Maqboolpura.

Walia said basic development of the entire New Golden Avenue had been overlooked so far. He said 135-foot entrance road to the New Golden Avenue area from GT Road was under dust. Passage of even a two-wheeler left behind clouds of dust, he added.

He said dust vacuum machines were put into use for posh areas like Mall Road, Lawrence Road and MM Malviya Road regularly, but the same facility was being denied on the 135-foot Road, which had vital establishment like offices of the SSP (rural), Punjab Armed Police Battalion, the BSNL and the PSPCL. In addition to these, Government Saragarhi Senior Secondary School, a government middle school, a private school and city bus stand was situated on the road, he added. He said a part of the amply wide road was under perpetual encroachment as defunct and abandoned trucks had been dumped there.

Walia said streetlights in the locality were missing, sewerage channels were often choked as they required overhauling. “MC employees seldom come to lift the garbage while dumping the same on open plots poses a risk to the hygiene of the area residents,” he added.

Meanwhile, numerous calls to Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu remained unanswered.