E-Paper
Ludhiana | NHAI kicks off work for pedestrian overpass at Sahnewal , more projects in line
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has initiated the work of putting in place another pedestrian overpass at Sahnewal in Ludhiana; proposal for Ladhowal- Phillaur bypass including construction of new eight-lane bridge on Satluj River are under consideration, third rainwater harvesting system near Sherpur Chowk is underway
After installing a pedestrian overpass at accident prone Sherpur Chowk, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has initiated the work of putting in place another pedestrian overpass at Sahnewal. The move comes following reports of rising number of accidents involving pedestrians.
Besides, proposal for Ladhowal- Phillaur bypass including construction of new eight-lane bridge on Satluj River are also under consideration.
Overpass was the need of hour
“Yes, the projects are under pipeline to ease traffic chaos as Ladhowal area is emerging as a bottle neck. Further, there was a dire need to put in place an overpass to help migrant labourers and residents residing on both sides of the village and help them cross the road cross the highway without putting their life at risk,” said Virendra Singh, project director, NHAI.
He further said besides pedestrian overpasses, other projects of public convenience were being carried out to ease the problem being faced by commuters.
₹300 crore expenditure already done
Virendra Singh added approximately ₹300 crore expenditure has been done in the last one year on road repair, gantries, signages and other maintenance works. The target is to spend around ₹500-600 crore more in the next two years on this highway.
3rd rainwater harvesting system underway
“While the rainwater harvesting system installed at Dhandari, Giaspura has started functioning from the second week of December, the construction for a third rainwater harvesting system was underway near Sherpur Chowk. Moreover, the damaged wall of Khanna Flyover has been repaired using the latest techniques minimising the trouble to road users,” said Singh.
At both the spots there was a serious problem of water logging which was resulting in damage to the road.
He said that six laning of GT Road NH-1 (new NH-44) Panipat-Jalandhar was allotted to a private company in 2009 but due to the poor maintenance of the highway, the NHAI has terminated the contract and since last one year, it is maintaining it directly through its agencies.
He added that the road users have suffered a lot of inconvenience during the last eight-nine years due to abnormal delays in construction and poor maintenance.
“However, after taking over the project, a lot of work has been done to improve the condition of the highway,” said Virendra.
