Amritsar: Poor maintenance keeps cyclists off track

The authorities had spent ~1.93 crore on the 2.5-km-long cycling track from MK Hotel T-point to the Ranjit Avenue police station chowk and Defence Colony Road to Beant Park and Old Jail Road, but due to the poor upkeep of it by the departments concerned, cyclists have stopped using the track.

In 2017, the authorities had proposed a 23.2-km-long cycling track across the holy city under the Smart City project, but they constructed the 2.5 km-long track at Ranjit Avenue as a pilot project. The construction of the track was completed in 2023, but very few people use it. Some residents claim that it is not only poorly designed but also unsafe for cycling. Residents of Ranjit Avenue, who used to do morning and evening walks on the track, claimed that a wild growth of grass and heaps of filth keep cyclists away from the track.

SS Sandhu, a resident of E block, said, “The track is poorly designed. We hardly see a cyclist using it. Heaps of filth can be seen lying all around the track. Besides, at many places, it has been overgrown with weeds. The authorities have failed to ensure the upkeep of the track and make it popular among the cyclists.”

The work of constructing the cycling track had started in June 2020. The track covers the road stretch from the MK Hotel T-point to the Ranjit Avenue police station chowk, Defence Colony Road, Beant Park and Old Jail Road, before culminating at the MK Hotel T-point.

The government had announced a dedicated cycle track network spanning 23.2 km across the holy city at an estimated cost of ~19.22 crore under the Smart City project in 2017. As per the proposals, the cycling track was supposed to be set up on the circular road alongside the walled city, Ranjit Avenue, Maqbool Road and the Mall Road. The office-bearers of Amritsar Smart City Ltd (ASCL) dropped the plan after constructing the 2.5-km-long pilot project at Ranjit Avenue.