Title - Finally, decks clear for rail over bridge near DMW workshop

Fulfilling a long-pending demand of Patiala residents, the state government has given its nod to construction of a railway over bridge (ROB) at the level crossing near DMW workshop on Sirhind-Rajpura bypass. The ROB would come at a cost of about Rs. 20 crore.   Though the government had cleared decks for the ROB in May 2010, but the proposal couldn't materialise as nod from the railway ministry was awaited.  “All obstacles are clear now. The process of tenders for construction of the bridge will start shortly. The government has sanctioned money for this project,” PWD minister Sharanjeet Dhillon said after chairing a meeting in this regard in Chandigarh on Thursday. The bypass extensively used by vehicles going towards Rajpura and industrial towns of Punjab, including Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh and Fatehgarh Sahib. The industrialists based in the city too had been demanding a ROB at the level crossing for unobstructed commuting and transportation of goods.

Employees of the Punjabi University, who commute daily to the city from nearby towns of Sirhind, Fatehgarh Sahib and surrounding villages, would also be among the beneficiaries.

RITES, a multi-disciplinary government consultancy organisation in the fields of transport, infrastructure and related technologies, has already conducted a study on the length the bridge.

Meanwhile, the locals have welcomed the sanction to the RoB. “It will prove a boon for Patiala industry situated in Focal Point. The ROB will ease up congestion on the city roads as motorists in order to avoid the level crossing take a detour from Gurdawara Dukhniwaran Sahib,” said Naresh Gupta, former president of the Patiala Industries Association.

Former Patiala mayor Ajit Pal Kohli, who has been instrumental in pushing up this project during his tenure as mayor, said the ROB would be one of the achievements of the SAD-BJP government.

“I had met even the then union railway minister to get a sanction for the project. Punjab government was always ready to fund this project. The sanction to the ROB has also belied the Congress claim that SAD was averse to development of Patiala as it was home city of former Congress chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh,” Kohli said, while thanking the deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal for clearing the project.