Private buses change route to Chandigarh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 29

Certain private buses (Volvos) bound for Patiala and Chandigarh have changed their route by skipping the 55 km Bathinda-Barnala stretch, which has been taken under the road widening project by the Public Works Department (PWD).

These are now plying on the Mansa-Sunam route. Reliable sources said these buses had changed the route on their own because of “the huge loss to the specially designed buses”.

Altering their main route of Barnala, Sangrur and Patiala, these are now going through Mansa, Sangrur and Patiala en route Chandigarh.

Instead of going straight from Sunam to Bhavanigarh, these are taking alternative route through Sangrur. Even beyond Patiala, these have given up the Rajpura-Zirakpur route and are instead travelling via Sirhind.

Travelling on the Bathinda-Barnala road has become an arduous journey, owing to the road widening work.

Vehicles, on this particular section of the road, will have to be prepared for bumps and expenditure on extra fuel for at least four more months, sources in the National Highway Authority executing the mammoth project of cementing of the four-way project said.

Chief engineer (national highway) AK Singla said, “Except for construction of certain road structures like bridges, the construction of the road in this section will be completed by September, this year. The work on all road structures will be completed by March 2017 before it is opened for the general public.”

“The work on about seven kilometre of road in the middle of the cantonment area is held up because of certain technical issues raised by the Bathinda Cantonment. Certain security issues in the wake of road widening touching the cantonment boundaries are currently being settled on priority basis,” Singla added.

General manager, PRTC, Jaswinder Chahal, said “We have done recce of the entire route in the wake of buses developing snags in the machinery and damage to the wheels. This section of the road connects a large number of villages in the interiors from Bucho, Rampura Phul and Tapa where people depend on buses as the major mode of transport.”

Col (retd) Narinder Singh Bains, a resident of Rampura, said, “I understand that everyone needs to cooperate for development work, however, I really don’t appreciate why the entire road from Bathinda to Barnala, and further extending to Patiala, has been dug up. Why can’t the project be taken up in phases?”

“This one looks like a classic case of hurrying up in an attempt by the ruling party to impress the voters before the polls,” Colonel Bains added.