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All pomp and no show as Ludhiana railway bridge closes two days after inauguration
The railway under bridge (RUB) on Pakhowal road in Ludhiana, India, was closed two days after its inauguration for completion of road surface work. The closure will last for a week from 6 pm to 9 am. The sudden closure has frustrated commuters who were hoping for relief from traffic congestion.
Two days after the railway under bridge (RUB) on Pakhowal road was inaugurated as part of the Indepence Day celebrations amid much fanfare, the same has been closed for completion of the mastic asphalt work on road surface.
The project, which was officially opened by Aam Aadmi Party’s Ludhiana West legislator Gurpreet Singh Gogi, was being hailed as a win for commuters — promising a shorter trip to those headed towards Sarabha Nagar and nearby regions.
On Wednesday evening, however, municipal corporation (MC) authorities abruptly closed the entrance of the RUB around 7 pm. The unannounced closure came as a blow to commuters, who were bemused to find it open against by 9:30 am on Thursday morning.
To remain closed 2
at night for a week
The completion of the pending tasks will have the bridge remained closed between 6 pm to 9 an for the next seven days. The same is aimed at expediting the pending work.
MC’s superintending engineer Sanjay Kanwar said, “It was already decided that for around one week, the RUB will be closed during night time to complete the mastic asphalt work on the road surface. RUB was opened with the motive to smoothen the traffic of Pakhowal road.”
Member of Parliament (MP) Ravneet Singh Bittu had meanwhile highlighted the closure on his social media account.
After the closure on Wednesday evening, Bittu again criticised the AAP government on his social media account, saying, “Merely one day after the inauguration of Pakhowal Underpass by AAP MLA, it is now closed for construction. In fact the underpass was not meant to be operational but for political mileage, the AAP leadership decided to inaugurate it prematurely and put lives of the public in danger.”
Gogi, in responde, said, “I have already told before inauguration that the broidge will be closed for one week during night time to complete some road related work”
Vinod Chawla, a hassled commuter said, “The sudden closure right after its inauguration is extremely frustrating. We were hopeful that the bridge would bring relief from the detours and traffic congestion, but the lack of communication from authorities shows a lack of consideration for the public’s convenience.”
While the construction of RUB was nearly completed, the mastic work within it remained unfinished. The inauguration, however, was held on August 14, only for the bridge to be shut down on August 16 evening.
