Decade on, Kharar still lacks facility

Shashi Pal Jain

Kharar, June 26

As soon as you reach Kharar from Chandigarh or Landran, a large number of people can be seen waiting for the bus at the local bus stand and that too in the scorching sun without any shelter, seating arrangements, drinking water and other facilities.        

They grapple with the same problem on a daily basis despite the fact that the town has become an educational hub with thousands of students visiting it from far off places. 

Surprisingly, the foundation stone of a modern bus stand was laid on September 7, 2006, by Capt Amarinder Singh. The project was approved due to efforts of the then Kharar MLA Bir Devinder Singh. 

According to the plan approved at that time, offices of the municipal council and the panchayat samiti were to be demolished and a new multi-storey bus stand was to be constructed. According to the plan, the new office of the MC and a shopping complex were to be opened on the first floor. This was a joint project of the Transport Department and the municipal council. The department was the nodal agency for the implementation of the project and a sum of Rs 50 lakh was approved for it. 

After the ouster of the Congress government in 2007, the project was stalled. Even the foundation stone laid during the previous Congress regime had gone missing and was found in pieces near a small water tank. 

When asked about it, Bir Devinder Singh said that it was sad that nobody bothered about the project. He said officials and politicians lacked vision.

Anju Chander, president of the MC said it was the need of the hour that Kharar had a modern bus stand. She said the MC would extend all kind of help to the state government for the construction of a modern bus stand.

The former MC president of and currently Punjab Cabinet Minister,  Charanjeet Singh Channi, said he had already discussed the matter with officials concerned and asked them to prepared a new model for the project. He promised that the work would start soon.