Ambala: Repair of approach road to flyover hits hurdle

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, February 27

Commuters and locals will have to wait more to use an approach road leading to Umrao Singh Flyover (earlier known as Kali Platoon railway bridge) as the project to repair the important link is set to be delayed. The work to repair the approach road has hit a hurdle due to design-related issues and now it is being redesigned.

Lying closed for over three years

The approach road has been lying closed for over three years now. It will be beneficial for people if the approach road is repaired soon. It will not only save time of thousands of commuters but also the costly fuel. Rohit Garg, resident

In October 2018, a section of the approach road caved in after the soil along its retaining wall was removed, and then the road was closed for commuters. A tender was awarded in August last year by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to repair the section at a cost of around Rs 1.40 crore, and the work was expected to be completed in six months.

Ravinder Singh, a local resident, said, “It links a road along the Ambala-Chandigarh highway with the flyover which connects two parts of Ambala Cantonment. If you are travelling on the national highway and you need to approach the flyover then you have to enter the busy areas of Ambala Cantonment and then reach the flyover while if the approach road is available then you can conveniently use it to reach the flyover from the national highway.”

Rohit Garg, another resident, said, “The approach road has been lying closed for over three years now. It will be beneficial for all the people if the approach road is repaired soon. It will not only save time of thousands of commuters but also the costly fuel.”

A senior official at the National Highways Authority of India in Ambala, said, “A tender was awarded and the road was to be repaired at a cost around Rs 1.40 crore. But during the excavation work some issues related to its design and weight-bearing capacity were observed, the agency is getting it redesigned. The project was expected to end in February but now we have to wait for the new design. Only after getting the new design the NHAI will be able to tell how much more time it will take for the completion of the work. It may have some implications on the cost of the project too.”