Airport road cries for attention
The airport road has been neglected for long. Piles of garbage on footpaths, non-functional streetlights and weed growth on the median proves that the authorities concerned are least bothered about the stretch.
Despite repeated complaints by residents to departments concerned nothing has changed till date. The road heading from Mirankot Chowk to Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport is under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Department (PWD). The government spent huge funds to beautify the airport road some years ago. Costly palm trees were planted on both sides of the road. The PWD had set weeds on fire which burnt several palm trees in the green belt. The service lane alongside the main road is teeming with potholes and has been encroached.
A local activist Indu Aurora said, “The airport road has been neglected for over a year. Despite repeated requests to departments concerned nothing has happened. The PWD is the most inactive department.”
“Coordinated efforts of the authorities are required to address the root causes of the problem, including lack of maintenance and inadequate infrastructure,” said Naveen Kumar, resident of Jujhar Avenue. Member of Parliament Gurjeet Singh Aujla said, “No one is taking responsibility for the airport road. Thousands of passengers from abroad pass through this road of the holy city every day. Lights on the road are non-functional and garbage is lying in the green belt. Officials of the PWD are hand in glove with higher officials of the state government. I have asked them several times for proper upkeep of the road, but to no avail. The state government has failed to address the garbage issue in the city.”
