Dug-up stretches, stalled projects make road travel a nightmare

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, December 23

Dug-up roads, projects in limbo, dusty highways, traffic snarl-ups and, to top it all, the customary monthly shobha yatra are turning city roads into a nightmare for commuters.

Frequent and long traffic jams are making citizens lose their temper and violate law, creating unpleasant situation of roads.

Thanks to administrational apathy and stalled projects, some key points in the city are always clogged with rows of serpentine traffic, sometimes difficult to navigate even by cops and ambulances. These areas within and in the periphery of the city include – Model Town, Nakodar Chowk, Ravidass Chowk, Workshop Chowk, Company Bagh Chowk, Kapurthala Chowk and countless stretches on the Jalandhar to Ludhiana, Phagwara, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Nakodar and Hoshiarpur highways.

Arun Ganguly, a teacher, who resides on the Jalandhar-Nakodar highway says, “We have never seen this much traffic as witnessed in the past two years. Never-ending snarl-ups have made the daily travel a nightmare. The road is dug up at many places. Near the Ravidass Chowk, it takes an average of 10 to 15 minutes daily to pass through. On busy days, the duration increases.

Dr. Chander Bowry, a cardiologist at Innocent Hearts Multi Specialty Hospital, which is on the Nakodar Road, says: “The road is dug up and the snarl-ups on the stretch make the daily commute a bad experience. Our critical patients lose valuable time on the road. Prompt solutions should be found.”

Congress leader Rajinder Beri, who opposed the previous PAP flyover design, says, “The projects which are given a go-ahead by the NHAI are done so without any feedback from the locals. NHAI officials further sublet these to contractors. The Dakoha overbridge will only benefit Jalandhar to Ludhiana commuters even as problems on the Dakoha railway crossing stay put. All these various projects have steeped entire stretches into chaos. Further, multiple projects have been started at the same time which has caused bottlenecks at several places at the same time.”

Regional Transport Authority, Jalandhar, Jai Inder Singh says: “It s true that many development projects in Jalandhar remain pending. Their speedy work will ease out the traffic situation. However, during the festive season, traffic always poses a problem. The Ring Road will reduce traffic on Nakodar highway drastically and Delhi-Katra Expressway project will greatly alleviate the traffic scenario. The various urban development authorities have a key role in easing out the scenario.”

Highways, too, not any different

Under-construction overbridge near the Dakoha railway crossing is also a cause for daily jams, congestion and accidents. Under-construction BSF Chowk to Amritsar Highway road; under-construction Delhi-Katra Expressway; six-laning of the PAP flyover; and four-laning of Nakodar Highway, too, are bottlenecks.

Water, sewerage works real bottlenecks

The surface water project has impacted the smooth flow of traffic from Kapurthala Chowk to Basti Bawa Khel Road up to Jain Bhawana road near Bhargo Camp on Nakodar Road, which was previously dug up due to surface water pipeline project and has to be dug up again. The stretch near PIMS and Rama Mandi to Dhilwan Talhan Road has also been hit by the project. Similarly, a sewerage project has impacted the smooth flow of traffic from Kapurthala Road to Workshop Chowk.