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Ludhiana | Year on, Pakhowal road RUB project ready for trial run
Ludhiana Pakhowal road RUB project will finally see light at he end of tunnel for a trial run, which is scheduled to take place on January 1.
A year and several deadlines later, the Pakhowal Road railway-under bridge is finally ready for a trial run, which is scheduled to take place on January 1.
While the railway under bridge, which has been built near Pakhowal road canal bridge, was under construction, residents had to take detour through Model Town Extension and Malhar Road to reach Sarabha Nagar.
Cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who along with mayor Balkar Sandhu and municipal commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal, inspected the project on Wednesday took to social media to announce the imminent opening of the under-bridge. “ Today, inspected the ongoing work of the railways Under Bridge at Sarabha Nagar. We would be taking the trial run of RUB-3 at Pakhowal Road on January 1, 2022 and after the trial run and necessary approvals from the concerned authorities the RUB will soon be opened for the public,” he posted on Twitter.
Multiple missed deadlines
The ₹120-crore project, which had been initiated in December 2020 under the Smart City Mission, was initially supposed to be completed by August 31, 2021. However, the deadline was extended to December 31, 2021, and then March 2022.
The closure of a stretch of Pakhowal Road, extending from Pakhowal Road Canal Bridge to Hero Bakery Chowk, had inconvenienced commuters and shopkeepers, whose businesses were hit due to the low footfall. In fact, several shopkeepers had to relocate from the stretch in the wake of mounting losses.
An MC official, who did now wish to be named, said, “The under bridge would have opened much sooner had work not been suspended for around three weeks after the main sewer was damaged.”
‘Assembly polls propelling force’
After inspecting the Pakhowal Road Project , Ashu met MC officials to discuss the integrated command and control centre being established at the Zone D office and other developmental projects.
Another MC official, on condition of anonymity, said opening the under bridge and restoring the flow of traffic is important for the minister ahead of the assembly polls as authorities have been receiving a lot of flak from commuters and shopkeepers over the slow pace of the project.
