Poor road connectivity: Residents question Sirsa medical college site

Days after the bhumi poojan ceremony of Sant Sarasai Nath Medical College in Sirsa, residents have started raising questions on the location of the college and poor road connectivity to the proposed site. Neither the administration nor the government has taken any significant step in this regard, they claimed.

The medical college is connected by three major routes, two from the city with railway crossings and one from the congested Baba Bhuman Shah Chowk at Barnala Road.

Residents claimed that none of the roads were wide enough to handle emergency traffic. They demanded that railway overbridges (ROBs) and underbridges should be constructed at the two railway crossings before the college becomes operational.

Gurjeet Mann, a local resident, said adequate emergency access is crucial for a medical college. He emphasised that the existing infrastructure cannot handle the increased traffic once the college opens. He also raised concerns about inadequate parking facilities in the proposed design and urged authorities to address these issues proactively.

The Bhumi Poojan ceremony for the medical college was performed on November 21 by CM Nayab Singh Saini. The college, spread over 22 acres, will house nursing, physiotherapy, and paramedical colleges, alongside a state-of-the-art cancer center. With an estimated cost of Rs 1,010.37 crore, the project is expected to be completed within two years and will offer 100 seats in various medical departments, including anatomy, pathology and emergency medicine.

The project has been long-awaited in Sirsa. It was initially announced in November 2019 by then-CM Manohar Lal Khattar, and President Droupadi Murmu virtually inaugurated the foundation stone in November 2022. However, construction faced delays. Now, with the Bhumi Poojan and groundbreaking ceremony complete, work is expected to begin soon.

Meanwhile, the progress on the city’s traffic infrastructure remains slow. An RUB at the Old Court Road railway crossing is in the tendering phase. According to Sanjay Sabharwal, Executive Engineer, PWD B&R, the tender was released in July 2024, and the process is pending approval from the department’s head office. The 300-meter-long RUB, estimated to cost Rs 10 crore, will take about a year to complete.

A similar file for another RUB at Chattargarh Patti on the mini-bypass is awaiting technical clearance.

Sabharwal expressed hope that both RUBs would be completed before the college becomes operational. However, local residents urge authorities to expedite the process to ensure smooth traffic flow and emergency access well in advance.