Sirsa railway underpass project gets nod

Anil Kakkar

Sirsa, July 13

The persistent demand of Sirsa residents has been met as the long-awaited railway underpass on Bal Bhawan Road has been approved, with a tender worth approximately Rs 10.7 crore issued on Friday. The project is set to be completed within 12 months. The Tribune had prominently published a story about this issue on April 10.

The issuance of the tender has brought immense joy to the residents of Sirsa. Pooja Garg, a student, said after many years of requests, the construction of the underpass was finally going to happen. Pooja added that at present, thousands of students had to commute through the railway overbridge on Hisar Road to reach the girls’ college due to frequent train crossings and closed gates, which led to a sheer wastage of their time. With the underpass, it would take less than five minutes to reach the college.

Advocate Ashish highlighted that Bal Bhawan Road is a shorter route to the court, but the closed railway gates forced a longer detour of 2-3 km. The underpass will save both their time and fuel, Ashish added.

Komal, a law student at Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU), said the underpass would make it easier for everyone to reach the CDLU, the Mini-Secretariat, JCD and the court from the city.

On the Bal Bhawan Road, where the railway station is located, around 25,000 vehicles pass through the crossing daily. Due to its proximity to the railway station, trains pass at a slower pace and the railway crossing remains closed for 10 to 15 minutes.

Sirsa PWD B&R XEN Sanjay Sabharwal said the tender for the railway underpass to be constructed on the Rewari-Bathinda railway line, on Janata Bhawan Road, has been set at over Rs 10 crore. The construction period is set for 12 months and the total length of the underpass will be 300 m. He said that the last date for receiving online bids wasAugust 2.

Following the approval of this tender, local MLA Gopal Kanda thanked Chief Minister Nayab Saini. He added that constructing the railway underpass was crucial to resolving the city’s traffic congestion issues. He added that the state government was continuously striving for the development of Sirsa and would leave no stone unturned to advance the city’s progress.