Protest over stalled ROB work in Palwal

Bijendra Ahlawat

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Palwal, February 2

A protest has been launched by residents here against the delay in the construction of the railway overbridge (ROB) at the Rasoolpur level crossing here. The work has been lying suspended for the past about a year, it is reported.

Announcing an indefinite dharna, a spokesperson of the protesters said though the work on the ROB was started in October 2018, the authorities concerned had failed to complete it even in three and a half years, resulting in inconvenience to thousands of commuters daily.

Tough for sick, expectant women

Residents have to travel extra 30 km to reach their destination as the level crossing has been lying closed for over three years. Transporting sick and expectant mothers to hospital is a major issue. —Kuldeep Baisla, Resident of lulwari village

Ramkaran Bhardwaj, a local resident, said protest was the last option as the project had been hanging fire for about four years. Claiming that the work got halted about a year ago, he said this had left thousands of residents at the receiving end, as they had to face dust and dirty civic conditions round-the-clock with no direct passage to cross the railway tracks.

Describing the matter as grave, Yogender Dagar, Rajkumar Garg and Surender, local residents, said the stir might be intensified if the work was not resumed soon.

Residents of the areas located near the project site had earlier cut off the water supply from the booster pump on September 26 last year on the same issue to seek early resumption of the work.

However, claiming that the delay was mainly on part of the Railways, Rahul Singh, Executive Engineer, Haryana State Roads and Bridge Development Corporation (HSRBDC), building the ROB, said the work was stopped after the Railways took up the work of laying the girders of the overbridge. He said while the matter had been taken up with the authorities, the HSRBDC had completed 65 per cent of the work. It was revealed that while the Railways had issued a notice to its contractor, the HSRBDC had also imposed Rs46 lakh penalty on its contractor.