Gadkari to lay stone of Phagwara bridge tomorrow

PHAGWARA: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari will lay the foundation stone of the Phagwara bridge on the Jalandhar-ludhiana national highway on Monday. The construction of the bridge has been four years in waiting due to a tussle between BJP leaders.

Minister of state for social justice and empowerment Vijay Sampla said construction on 1.5km stretch of the national highway will be completed within the year and a budget of ₹365 crore has been sanctioned for the same.

He said the elevated bridge was a long-pending demand of the local residents. The bridge was initially to be built with an estimated budget of ₹1.64 crore.

The project was being stalled because Sampla, who was formerly the BJP state chief and Phagwara MLA Som Parkash did not see eye to eye on whether an elevated bridge or a solid bridge should be constructed.

In 2015, Sampla had floated a proposal for an elevated bridge. However, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) scrapped the proposal in April, 2016, after Parkash demanded amendments in the project.

Later, Parkash, who was in favour of constructing a solid earth-filled bridge, agreed to build an elevated bridge because the project was two years behind schedule.

The design was revised in August, 2018, and tenders were floated.

Sampla and state BJP leaders will hold a welcome rally for Gadkari before the foundation ceremony.

However, Parkash, who is the only BJP MLA from the Doaba region said he will not take part in the rally.

There has been longstanding bitterness between the duo and efforts to iron-out their differences have fallen flat in the past. KAPURTHALA : The husband and in-laws of a 24-year-old woman were booked for allegedly demanding dowry on Saturday.

The accused are Pritam Singh, his father Harbans Singh and his mother Korhi of Villa Kothi in Kapurthala district.

On July 30, 2018, the complainant, Baljeet Kaur of Mundi Shana village in Kapurthala, had filed a complaint with police alleging that her husband along with his parents and sisters had been harassing her for dowry since the day she got married (April 4, 2017).

“My parents intervened on several occasions but the accused continued to mentally torture me. On December 20, 2017, they turned me out of the house,” she said.

Fattudhinga assistant sub-inspector Sharanjit Singh said the SSP had directed the police officials to register a case after conducting an inquiry.

A case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 498A (husband or relative of husband subjecting woman to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered.

The accused are absconding.

The elevated bridge is a long-pending demand of the local residents. Its construction will be completed within the year.

VIJAY SAMPLA, Union minister THE COMPLAINANT WAS TURNED OUT OF THE HOUSE IN 2017 AFTER SHE FAILED TO MEET DOWRY DEMANDS