NGO, shopkeepers protest delay

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 3

Members of Yuva, an NGO, along with shopkeepers and city residents staged a protest against the Municipal Corporation and Ludhiana Smart City Limited for failing to complete the ROB and RUBs project on Pakhowal Road here.

The shopkeepers also complained that their business was disturbed due to the delay in the completion of the project. A number of traders have already shut down their businesses.

The project under the Smart City Mission was supposed to be completed by August 31, 2021, but the LSCL and the MC failed to get it completed on time. It also missed the December 2022 deadline.

Notably, both sides of a RUB (also part of the same project) that connects Sarabha Nagar with Pakhowal Road and Ishmeet Singh Road were opened for traffic movement last year. But, the construction of ROB and another RUB on Pakhowal Road are yet to be completed.

Raising questions over the slow pace of the work, Kumar Gaurav, president of the NGO, said: “The estimated cost of the project was earlier Rs 124 crore. Its cost has been further increased by Rs 9 crore. Still, the project is incomplete due to which residents and shopkeepers have been left to suffer. The civic body is responsible for the delay in the completion of the project. We demand the government must order a probe.”

He questioned as to why proper planning was not done before launching the project.

The protesters said the railway portion of the ROB had already been constructed but the work under the MC’s jurisdiction was pending.

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