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MLA Kulwant raises concern over rising road mishaps in Mohali, demands 16 roundabouts
Punjab minister of housing and urban development Aman Arora assured the MLA that roundabouts will be constructed at all black spots in the city after checking the feasibility. The minister said tenders for construction of three roundabouts --Sectors 67/68/79/80 Chowk, Sectors 68/69/78/79 Chowk and Sectors 69/70/77/78 Chowk have already been processed.
Speaking in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha during the budget session on Monday, Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh raised concerns over the rise in road mishaps in the district and sought construction of more roundabouts.
The MLA pointedly spoke about the Airport Road and road from the Mohali DC office in Sector 76 to Sector 81, terming these as vulnerable stretches of Mohali.
“We have ample space for roundabouts here. Usually, there is rush on one side of the traffic lights while the other side remains empty. Commuters don’t follow the traffic rules and jump signals as there are very few traffic cops deployed here. This makes it very important to have roundabouts in the city; to slow down the traffic as every life is precious,” said Kulwant.
He sought construction of 16 roundabouts in Mohali. “There is no traffic chaos near Airport Chowk due to the presence of a roundabout there. But traffic is always chaotic at other intersections of the stretch till Kharar, including at Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan, Sohana Chowk,” Kulwant added.
Punjab minister of housing and urban development Aman Arora assured the MLA that roundabouts will be constructed at all black spots in the city after checking the feasibility.
The minister said tenders for construction of three roundabouts --Sectors 67/68/79/80 Chowk, Sectors 68/69/78/79 Chowk and Sectors 69/70/77/78 Chowk have already been processed.
Arora claimed that roundabouts would be constructed in three phases – in the first phase three roundabouts would come up, in second phase eight would come up and in the final phase, five would be constructed.
Punjab minister of housing and urban development Aman Arora, in a meeting chaired in November, had directed the local authorities to convert light points across the city into roundabouts to streamline traffic and prevent road mishaps.
A senior official stated, “Traffic on the roads is increasing day by day and the number of accidents is also on the rise. The GMADA town planning department has already been asked to carry out a proper study and construct the roundabouts. We have already held a joint meeting with the police, GMADA and other stakeholders.”
The officer shared that most of these roundabouts will be constructed on the road behind Sohana gurdwara as the traffic is lean there, prompting commuters to jump traffic lights, which results in accidents.
Mohali police have also made a few temporary roundabouts in the city to control the traffic pace. The authorities have also involved the state traffic advisor Navdeep Asija in the project.
Advocating the need for roundabouts, Asija said, “The purpose is to slow down the traffic, especially at vulnerable chowks like IISER Chowk and 10 black spots on the Airport Road. It was GMADA’s job to construct these roundabouts but sensing the urgency to save the human lives, the police itself got the roundabout constructed using its own resources. There are around six to seven roundabouts in Mohali as of now and there is need to construct at least 10 roundabouts on the Airport Road alone.”
