Public outcry over 4-lane project as rainwater enters shops, houses
Rajiv Mahajan
Nurpur, July 25
The ongoing construction of the Pathankot-Mandi four-lane project has become an eyesore at Bhadwar village near Nurpur for local residents who have their shops and houses on the roadside. In the absence of a proper sewerage system to drain rainwater stagnating on the road, the life of residents of this village has become miserable. Even light rain showers cause waterlogging on the underconstruction 200-mt stretch on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway at Bhadwar.
Residents mull FIR
After efforts to approach the concerned authorities proved futile, residents plan to file FIR against the highway construction company
The rainwater accumulating on the roadside enters the shops and houses of the residents, causing a lot of hardship to them as the water inundates their premises, becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Local residents—Mukesh Sharma, Vinod and Prem Kumar—rued that in the absence of any drainage system, their houses were being inundated even with the slightest downpour. Joginder, Prakash, Anil and Sudarshan Sharma, who have their shops on the highway side, said the rainwater was leading to waterlogging in their shops, forcing them to shut these. “Our trading activities have been affected badly due to the apathy of the four-lane construction company,” they rued.
The affected residents told The Tribune that they had been bearing the menace of waterlogging for the past five months and had approached the local administration and highway construction company’s representatives several times but to no avail.
They alleged that the insensitive approach of the construction company had created this man-made nuisance for the public. “After running from pillar to post, we have decided to lodge an FIR against the four-lane construction company, as during monsoon rains, waterlogging in our premises increases manifold,” they said.
Inquiries reveal that the NHAI has awarded the construction of the first phase of the Pathankot-Mandi four lane project on Kandwal-Bherkhud stretch to Mumbai-based IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, which has further outsourced this work to a Pathankot-based construction company.
A lot of resentment is also brewing among the residents of the area over the slow pace of the construction work. Meanwhile, Harpreet Singh, chief executive officer of the highway construction company, said he had directed the incharge of the local road construction company to address the problem of the affected people.
