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Ludhiana activists hold prayer meet for completion of Pakhowal rail bridge, seek divine intervention
Near the Pakhowal underpass in Ludhiana, citizens congregated as a Hindu priest led the prayer session followed by a Sikh priest, who conducted an ardass, both in hope that the Pakhowal rail bridge project, which commenced on December 2020 will be completed soon
: Making a mockery of the government and authorities handling the construction of Pakhowal railway under and over bridge, several non-governmental organisations and activists on Sunday organised a prayer meet, calling for divine intervention for the completion of the long-delayed project.
Near the Pakhowal underpass, citizens congregated as a Hindu priest led the prayer session followed by a Sikh priest, who conducted an ardass, both in hope that the project, which commenced on December 2020 will be completed soon.
The members of the prayer meet also broke coconuts on the unfinished bridge and tied a sacred thread called ‘molly’ and wished that the construction of the project will be expedited.
The citizens asked the Almighty to intervene on their behalf to awaken the authorities to finish the project as soon as possible. The much-awaited project has already missed its August 31, 2021 deadline and was granted an extension.
According to Rahul Verma, an activist who is affiliated with the Sambhav Foundation and part of the prayer meet, the public has been suffering due to the unfinished project. Moreover, shopkeepers have also been struggling for the past four years as their businesses have suffered losses.
“As there seems to be no other way, we are now placing our hopes solely on divine intervention. We have fervently prayed for the project’s timely completion and remain optimistic that our prayers will be answered soon,” Verma said.
The progress on the Pakhowal railway overbridge and underpass has come to a halt due to a disagreement over changes made in the original design. This disagreement has resulted in an increase of ₹6.29 crore in the cost of the project.
The present contention is over the 29-metre extension for the approach road on the Hero Bakery Chowk side of the Pakhowal road heading towards Bhai Wala Chowk.
Initiated in December 2020, the authorities had set an August 31, 2021 deadline for the ₹124-crore project taken up under the Smart City Mission involving two road under bridges (RUB) and a ROB at Pakhowal road railway crossing, but the deadline has since been extended.
To address the project delays, Balwinder Singh, the executive engineer of the Municipal Corporation, stated that they are currently awaiting government approval regarding the proposed changes to the bridge. He said that once they receive the green light, construction work will commence immediately.
