Grills worth Rs 30 lakh missing on Amritsar's BRTS route: Social activist

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 26

The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) a dream project of former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has been facing serious challenges since its inauguration on December 16, 2016.

Iron grills (weighing around 5 tonnes) installed alongside the BRTS’s tracks had been stolen, claimed Suresh Sharma, a social activist. He alleged the project worth Rs 600 crore has been ignored by the Congress government.

“Around 800 grill frames are missing from Chheharta to India Gate. A total of 2,900 frames are missing on the entire BRTS route. One frame weighs around 20 kg, thus grills weighing 5,000 kg are missing. Due to the negligence of the government, iron grills worth Rs 30 lakh have been stolen in the last four years,” said Sharma.

He urged the Municipal Corporation and the Punjab Metro Bus Society to take stern action in this regard.

In February 2018 the Municipal Corporation Commissioner had written to Public Works Department (PWD) to take action against those who are removing the grills of the BRTS corridor. Earlier, Deputy Commissioner had also issued instructions to register police cases against people responsible for breaking the grills. However, no case has been registered till date. The grills can be seen missing from several locations.

A few months ago, the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board handed over the BRTS to the Municipal Corporation. Mayor Karmajit Singh Rintu stated that they would streamline the bus metro soon.

The social activist also demanded to install display boards, which were non-operational.