DC reviews four-laning of 29-km Sirhind road stretch

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 4

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sakshi Sawhney today reviewed the four-laning project on the Patiala-Sirhind road. The project is a long-pending demand of district residents and commuters travelling to Sirhind. It will finally see the light of day after the administration cleared the way for it.

The Punjab Government has approved a 29-km stretch for the project, which will be initiated soon.

The DC directed the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) XEN to immediately begin the work on shifting the electricity poles and lines and submit a sector-wise report to her office. She ordered the National Highways XEN to immediately get the potholes repaired as they were causing accidents on the road. She further asked the officials concerned to clear the objections raised by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change by liaising with the Divisional Forest Officer, Patiala.

The city residents and commuters welcomed the decision and claimed they had been struggling to get the highway repaired, leave aside getting it widened. Commuters en route to Mohali, Sirhind, Fatehgarh Sahib and even Ludhiana and Amritsar use this road. Recklessly-driven buses add to their woes given the single-road stretch.

“Everyday, thousands of vehicles use this narrow stretch of road to reach their destinations, putting their lives in danger. It will be a big relief if the road is widened soon,” Arjesh Garg, a local trader who frequently uses this stretch to reach Mandi Gobindgarh, said.

“We have to risk our lives on the narrow highway, which is used by transport vehicles and cars to reach Ludhiana and Amritsar. Going back to our village on a bike is also risky as rashly-driven buses also ply on this road. The road is full of potholes which are not visible at night,” a villager said. He said they were being given assurances for the past two years that the road would be widened soon.

A visit to the spot confirmed the poor condition of the road, which is full of potholes and almost completely dark at night. The road was repaired a few times during the SAD-BJP tenure, but was never reconstructed and widened for the smooth passage of traffic. A major part of the highway is unlit and makes driving all the more difficult with buses driving recklessly at high speed.

The DC said of the approved 29-km of road, the 8-km stretch from Patiala to Baran village was already four-laned. The remaining 21-km of the approved stretch will be four-laned soon, she said.

“The road will be widened on both sides by 8.75-metre and will have a 1.2-metre centre verge. A new steel-structured bridge was proposed on the Bhakra Canal”, the DC added.

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