Zirakpur: Underpass site turns motorists' nightmare

Tribune News Service

Amarjot Kaur

Chandigarh, January 16

The construction of a vehicular underpass on the national highway near the Zirakpur-Chandigarh border has become a cause of worry for commuters and those who run businesses in the vicinity.

‘Unplanned construction at Zirakpur site’

There is a constant traffic jam in the area. They have closed all drains. When it rained recently, the water entered my showroom. The construction is not only haphazard, but unplanned too, it seems. Raju, a shop owner

Iron rods protruding out of the road along the boundary of the construction area make it risky for motorists. That’s not all. Sewer water, which flows on to the road and gets accumulated in the potholes, also raises a stench in the area. Regular traffic jams around the construction site too make it difficult for those who run their shops there.

“I travel through this road daily. Often, I fear that the iron rods protruding from the road will tear my vehicle’s tyres. Every day, we battle never-ending traffic jams in the area where the underpass is being constructed,” said Shanti, who commutes daily between Chandigarh and Zirakpur for her job.

Raju, who owns a shop along the road where the underpass is being constructed, is harrowed for the past four months now. “There is a constant traffic jam in the area. They have closed all drains. When it rained recently, the water entered my showroom. The construction is not only haphazard, but unplanned too, it seems. The sewage water, which accumulated on the road, is raising stink in the entire area. No customer wants to come here and shop in this situation. We are bleeding financially,” he said.

The underpass is reportedly being built on the Zirakpur side in an area of 450m at a cost of around Rs10 crore to facilitate the movement of heavy vehicles coming from the godown area side. The work is being carried out by a Jalandhar-based company, Associated Engineers, under the supervision of the National Highway Division, Public Works Department (PWD), Punjab.

Yuvraj Bindra Singh, Executive Engineer, National Highway Division, Public Works Department, Punjab, said: “I am not aware of all these problems, but now that they have been brought up, we will fix these immediately. As for traffic, we have made the diversions thoughtfully. It is possible that iron roads are protruding out of the drains that we removed.”

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