Work on recarpeting of roads suspended in Amritsar after G20 Summit

Amritsar, April 19

Soon after the G20 summit was over last month, work on recarpeting of roads was suspended midway. There are some roads where half the portion has been recarpeted but the rest remains potholed. The main GT Road from the bus stand to the Golden Gate was recarpeted before the G20 summit. A number of patches was witnessed on the stretch of a few kilometres. The road near Taran Wala Pul exposes the negligence of authorities. Half the portion has been recarpeted while the remaining half is still in bad shape.

The condition of the road leads to accidents on GT road. The commuters often divert their vehicles to the BRTS lane side by avoiding potholes on the ignored portion of the road. Sometimes accidents take place as potholes on a recently carpeted road are seldom observed by the commuters.

Not only GT road, the roads leading to Golden Temple are still in a state of ignorance even after the end of the international event. Major potholes at Gheo Mandi Chowk creates a hurdle in the movement of traffic. A former Mayor and office-bearers of the MC General House besides municipal officials had announced several times about the recarpeting of roads leading to the Golden Temple. Some of the roads were recarpeted but the issue at Gheo Mandi Chowk remains unaddressed. The road from Ram Talai to Gheo Mandi is also in a bad condition.

Rahul, a local activist, said, “We pointed out before the G20 summit that the roads are being carpeted in a hurry. The Municipal Corporation is compromising on quality. Now most of the roads have not been recarpeted properly. Senior MC officials should check all these roads physically and rectify the errors made by the contractors in a hurry.”

Jattinder Singh, a resident of New Amritsar, said, “The GT road was not much damaged, it had only needed repair at some locations. But the authorities recarpeted it. Now, commuters witness a bumpy ride as the patches are not at the same level.”