Roads connecting rly station barricaded till March 10

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 10

Three major roads connecting the city railway station have been shut for the public for the next one month.

Reason: The construction work to lay new sewerage line and recarpetting of roads started on Wednesday.

However, owing to this, railway passengers and commuters will face a tough time at the station. The main routes leading towards the railway station are Damoria Overbridge Road, Railway Colony Road and Mandi Fanton Ganj Road. As all three entrance roads to the railway station have been barricaded, traffic snarls are expected on the alternate routes for the next four-five weeks.

The new construction process is expected to give a facelift to the railway station. As per the officials, the blueprint of the project and its implementation has been covered under the Smart City Mission. An MC official said a budget worth Rs6 crore has been assigned for the project and it would be completed under the supervision of railway engineers.

With this, the diversion of traffic for a month will remain a tough task for the traffic police.

After the diversion of traffic routes, vehicular rush is expected to increase in areas, including Bhagat Singh Road, Kishanpura Road, Mohalla Govindgarh, Gurunanakpur Crossing, Adda Hoshiarpur and Quila Mohalla, among others.

Vehicles moving to the railway station from Adda Hoshiarpur and Mandi Fanton Ganj Road will now have to use the same road from Bhagat Singh Chowk to Kishanpura Road.

Meanwhile, DRM Ferozepur, Rajesh Agarwal, said: “The project includes broadening of roads connecting the railway station. Though the station building would remain the same, the green cover outside it will increase and there will be a proper space for parking. The movement of heavy vehicles will also be curbed after the construction. An estimated time of nine months has been kept for the construction work.”

The workers present on the site said due to illegal parking and continuous movement of vehicles, it was difficult to proceed with the construction.

Business may take a hit

The construction work will take a huge toll on the business of existing parking operators and taxi service operators. As the auto-rickshaw stand has also been demolished, auto-rickshaw drivers said till the construction was completed, the footfall of passengers would be minimal, making a direct impact on their earning. The nearby hotel and guest house owners also anticipated that they wouldn’t get sufficient visitors for a month.

Considering the delayed construction of the road from Mahiran Gate to the railway station, shopkeepers nearby appealed to the authorities to complete the project on time.