Stalled flyover work at Rayya creates traffic bottlenecks

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, May 2

With civil work on the flyover at Rayya on the Amritsar-Beas GT road getting stalled, commuters travelling on the National Highway-1 are facing traffic hassles daily.

Residents of the town seeking expansion of the flyover up to its present outer limit began a protest at the mouth of the under-construction flyover. They have been holding the protest since February. Several political parties and local leaders are also supporting the stir and have written to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

As a result, commuters have to pass through narrow service lanes along the flyover. At times, the number of vehicles swelled as traffic between Amritsar and Jalandhar and of over 40 villages uses this stretch for their journey ahead. So, traffic congestion has become a routine affair.

Shopkeepers feel that falling of the ramps of the flyover in the town would obstruct the flow of customers.

Baljinder Singh, a shopkeeper, said direct approach to three schools, an equal number of hospitals, a cremation ground and other public installations would be hindered with the construction of ramps at the already designated site. Then people would have to travel more in order to reach their destinations.

Harmanpreet Singh, another resident of the area, said at this juncture, the NHAI could easily construct the remaining portion. Once the flyover is completed, it would not be possible.

Officials of the NHAI, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they constructed a single-pillar 600 meter long flyover with six lanes at a cost of Rs 57 crore. Now, a section of the residents are seeking addition of about 500 meter more. It would mean an investment of about Rs 50 crore. Such decisions are taken by the head office, they said, and accepted that commuters are suffering traffic congestion on the stretch.