Farmers Movement Archive

Overpasses bridge gaps, but Jalandhar’s PAP flyover connects only miseries

Tribune News ServiceJalandhar, July 24The overbridges are laid to nullify the daily traffic woes. But this one here, the PAP flyover, seems to only widen the wounds of the dwellers living nearby.The residents have to take long detours and navigate through traffic jams at the busy Rama Mandi intersection every time they have to go over to a locality, which was earlier minutes away. They attribute the problem to the faulty design of the overpass.Vinay Kumar, a resident of Gurunanakpura, says, “People fear emergencies because the bridge has made daily life miserable. We have to spend 20-30 minutes going across several traffic bottlenecks to reach even the nearby localities we have been cut off from. Even during pandemic the traffic is very busy and there are regular traffic jams at Rama Mandi. In the name of easing traffic woes, they have only been increased.”But the NHAI has repeatedly denied the default in the bridge. Even during the pandemic times hundreds are bearing the brunt of the perplexing design - which has distanced adjoining areas - who now, have to take several kilometeres detour to cross over.On February 19, Jalandhar MLA Rajinder Beri accompanied by residents of the Gurunanakpura, had also held a protest demanding smooth passage to residents of nearby localities, who were taking an unnecessary two km long detour.As if the predicament was not much worse, the flyover is to be widened to an eight-laned overpass. While crores were spent on it's long-drawn construction, now further splurging on its modification. And a number of houses are going to be the meal for this another fat monster of a bridge.“Now, Avtar Nagar residents have also begun receiving notices for eviction. At least 50 residents got notices for past five to six months asking them to leave their places. How can we know the bridge widening will not add to our trouble," adds Vinay, a former resident of the Avtar Nagar. He has shifted to Gurunankpura.Residents continue to be massively inconvenienced by the PAP flyover, more are quietly coming up during these pandemic struck times in adjoining localities which are nothing but extension of their woes. "It now takes half an hour for us to cross a route of five minutes. The overbridge at the Surya Enclave has been adding to our plight. While we are already in trouble due to the PAP flyover - for which we have to take a two km detour for the very next area - on top of it, now this overbridge being made right by my shop has decreased the height of the passage. Earlier, trucks and trolleys could pass through but now it shall be relegated to only cars," laments Advocate Upinder Singh, a resident of the Surya Enclave.Since these bridges belong to different authorities and jurisdictions, residents have to go through winding red tapes to lodge a complaint. "The members of the Surya Enclave market have already submitted a complaint on the issue," he tells, before suggesting, "The design of these flyovers should dwindle the needs of the residents and not pile up more.”

The Tribune

2020-07-25