Encroachers put on notice

Our Correspondent

Jalandhar, July 21

The Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) on Tuesday removed several encroachments on the 120-Feet Road of the Surya Enclave extension leading to the Damoria overbridge from the Qazi Mandi side. The action has been initiated to ensure the construction of the stretch and make certain arrangements for the second entry to the local railway station as the same has been included under the Smart City project.

JIT officials said: “The formalities required for the process have been started and the removal of encroachments is on. Though a number of encroached areas have been cleared, many of the encroachers have been served notices on Saturday to get the areas cleared by Monday.”

Recently, MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary too visited the site and reviewed the possibility of having a second entry to the railway station. He was accompanied by DRM Vivek Kumar, Mayor Jagdish Raja and Smart City Mission coordinator Vishesh Sarangal.

Meanwhile, the team had already inspected the Surya Enclave extension road and nearby colonies and had asked JIT to remove illegal encroachments from the stretch.

Residents at the Surya Enclave Extension said the problem of encroachments on the road leading to the Damoria flyover was a major hurdle in the construction of the 120-Feet road to the railway overbridge connecting the Surya Enclave Extension.

“There is a factory falling in between and though the Punjab and Haryana High Court in December 2015 dismissed the petition filed by some area residents challenging the acquisition of their land for the project, the work has not started yet. The second entry to the railway station was promised in 2012 but due to the non-removal of encroachments, it was never materialised,” they said.

There would be a lot of benefits of the second entry gate to the railway station. The construction of the 120-Feet road to the overbridge, connecting the Surya Enclave Extension and the Footover Bridge, will directly connect to the Platform No. 1 and 2. It will also help in reducing the traffic flow at the main entry gate. However, no scheduled time or date has been planned by the authorities for beginning and completing the construction work.