Rs15-cr underpass to come up on Dakoha railway crossing

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 30

To get rid of traffic snarls on Dakoha railway crossing, a vehicular underpass (VUP) would be constructed at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

The proposal was made by the district administration, following which a detailed project report and the estimate were prepared by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said crossing falls on one of the busiest Amritsar-Delhi rail routes and heavy traffic passes through this crossing daily. He said train vehicle unit has crossed one-lakh mark on this crossing and it has qualified criteria for the construction VUP.

Thori said this railway crossing remains closed most of the time due to heavy flow of trains, which causes jams.

Sometimes, this crossing remains shut for prolonged timings, leading to major inconvenience to commuters, he said.

Thori said during peak hours, traffic piles up at National Highway-44 due to the closure of this crossing.

He said feasibility survey was carried out by the Public Works Department (PWD), which suggested that a RUB/ROB was not possible due to proximity of this crossing to the NH-44, thus the problem could be sorted out through VUP.

Varinder Singh, Project Director, NHAI, said vehicular underpass (VUP) would cost around Rs 15 crore and a DPR and estimate have been sent to higher authorities. Once the proposal gets approval, tenders for the project would be floated by the NHAI, he said.