Fate of railway underbridge in Fazilka hangs in balance

Praful Chander Nagpal

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Fazilka, March 15

The construction of an underbridge on the busy Court Road railway crossing at Fazilka has come to a standstill for over a month reportedly for the want of clearance from the Commissioner Railway Safety (CRS), Delhi. The construction of the under bridge was initiated in December 2016. Blocks have been lying near the railway crossing to be laid on the surface of the bridge.

Sources said the bridge would be constructed at the cost of Rs 2.5 crore. They said a clearance had to be sought from the CSR, Ministry of Civil Aviation, for permanently closing the railway crossing.

A senior railway official claimed that a file in this regard had been lying with the office of the CSR for about two months. “The work will be completed in two months after receiving the clearance,” said the official.

The sources said overhead high tension wires on the railway crossing were yet to be removed for the completion of the work.

“Those who are residing near the crossing have been facing a lot of inconvenience as they have to wait for a long time for the crossing to open or have to use the Ferozepur road railway crossing flyover after covering a distance of more than a km,” said Satnam Singh of Teacher Colony.

After the construction of a road overbridge on the Malout Chowk railway crossing, the flow of internal traffic was diverted to the Court Road railway crossing.

Traffic bottlenecks are witnessed at the railway crossing throughout the day as the crossing had to be closed at least 20 times a day which disrupts the traffic movement. Once the project is completed, commuter will have hassle-free movement.

The underbridge will connect the residents of Civil Lines, Jhule Lal Colony, Teacher Colony, Freedom Fighter road, MR Enclave and Improvement Trust Colony with the main town.