Centre rejects revised estimates for Jalandhar-Kapurthala road 4-laning
BUSINESS OF OVER 500 INDUSTRIES PRODUCING SPORTS, SURGICAL AND LEATHER GOODS REMAINS AFFECTED DUE TO UNFINISHED PROJECT
JALANDHAR: The Union ministry of road transport and highways has rejected the revised estimates of Rs 3.63 crore required to complete the long-delayed four-laning of the 3-km stretch of the JalandharKapurthala road, dashing all hopes of the project seeing the light of the day soon.
The executing agency, public works department (building and roads), had sent the proposal to the ministry and had also held a meeting with officials concerned on June 14 with a request to release the funds, but their plea was turned down.
Executive engineer (XEN) BS Tuli told HT that the estimates have been rejected on “technical grounds” and he would soon hold a meeting with municipal corporation (MC) officials to discuss the issue.
MC officials claimed that they had already completed their part of the works on the road and spent Rs 4 crore.
Mayor Sunil Jyoti said, “No work is pending from our side. The MC has already completed works of the base and central verge in the stretch. The whole work has been carried out at a cost of Rs 4 crore.”
A senior MC functionary said the ball is now in the court of the state government to get the funds released for timely completion.
It is the same road where the then Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh had joined a protest held by his party on September 21 last year and had assured people that he would personally look after the project after coming to power.
Satinder Singh, a businessman, said, “We are dejected as neither the Shiromani Akali Dal nor the Congress has been serious about the plight of commuters since 2014.”
On May 15, power minister Rana Gurjeet Singh, accompanied by Jalandhar West MLA Sushil Rinku, had visited the road and directed the officials to expedite the construction work. They also held talks with local residents and businessmen who have their establishments alongside the road.
Earlier, there was a proposal to build an elevated road between Jalandhar and Kapurthala, of which the foundation stone was laid by former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on February 10, 2014. The project was later shelved and the four-laning of the Jalandhar-Kapurthala road was mooted.
Alongside the Jalandhar-Kapurthala road, there are more than 500 industries producing sports, surgical and leather goods. Their business is affected due to the unfinished project.