Potholes on Panipat-Assandh road, a threat to safety of schoolchildren, commuters

Hundreds of commuters, residents in outer colonies, schoolchildren and their parents face a lot of problems due to the potholes on Panipat-Assandh road.

Even the Minister for Panchayat and Development Krishan Lal Panwar goes home and reaches his constituency by using this damaged road, as it is the main road that connects Panipat to Jind district and Assandh in Karnal district.

However, the government had announced the four-laning of Panipat-Assandh road, but due to the delay in environmental clearance, the project is stuck in the files for the last three years.

The Panipat-Assandh road is one of the busiest roads here as thousands of commuters use it to go to their destination daily. Several villages, several colonies and other residential areas, Panipat thermal power station and cement factory are also on the same road.

Several public schools are on the road. In the morning and afternoon, schoolchildren and their parents face a lot of problems due to the deplorable condition of the road.

People get stuck in the traffic jam due to potholed road near the Delhi-parallel canal and Sodhapur village. The condition is so bad that several accidents of e-rickshaws, three-wheelers and two-wheelers are reported there as these potholes get waterlogged during the rains.

Sourabh, a parent, said it was a big problem for the children as well as for the commuters. The authorities should take appropriate measures for the repair of the road. Not only accidents but these potholes are also a big reason for traffic jams, he added.

Ram Pal Saini and Jagdish Kashyap, residents of Daryapur village, said Assandh road from Panipat to Safidon was in the worst condition these days. The condition near the drain just before the St Mary School, near Sondhapur, in Madlauda was deplorable. The commuters were stuck in traffic jams for 2-3 hours daily near Sondhapur village as the potholes were waterlogged and very deep.

This is the main road to reach Madlauda, where Panchayat and Development Minister Krishan Lal Panwar resides, Saini said. The issue was raised by the residents several times, but to no avail, he added.

Savit Pannu, XEN, PWD B&R said the project for widening the Panipat-Assandh road to four-lanes had already been approved. But, the project got delayed due to the delay in environmental clearance, he said.

However, the process for environmental clearance is still on, but we are hoping that it would be cleared soon, as the Chief Minister was monitoring the project, XEN Pannu added.

The 28-km stretch would be widened from Assandh Naka to Safidon and the project cost was estimated to cost Rs 70 crores. As soon as the environmental clearance was received the work would be started, he said.

“The stretch being in the low-lying area has led to waterlogging. It is not only due to rain water, but the water from the nearby habitat also gets accumulated on it. There is no drainage system. But, with the four-lane project, the drains on both sides will also be developed,” Pannu asserted.

Though the work on the four-lane will start in the coming days, but to provide temporary relief, the department will carry out the repair work and soon the potholes will be covered, the XEN said.