Title - Residents up in arms against MC Delay in construction of railway overbridge at Sodal crossing

Jalandhar:Fed up with the alleged dilly-dallying tactics of the municipal corporation Jalandhar (MCJ) for constructing the much-required railway under bridge (RUB) at the Sodal crossing, Jalandharities have threatened to lodge their protest during the proposed foundation stone-laying ceremony of an aquarium by the MCJ on August 24.Despite the issuance of notification by the Punjab Local Bodies Department in August last year for acquiring land around the Sodal railway crossing for the RUB, nothing concrete has been done in this regard so far, whereas at least one-fourth of the city population is suffering a lot in the absence of any RUB.A representative of the Chamber of Jalandhar Welfare Societies, comprising over 25 residents welfare associations, Raj Kumar Sharma, expressed surprise that the Local Bodies Department was going to lay the foundation stone of the aquarium, whereas its announcement had been made a few weeks ago. On the contrary, it forgot to do the same for the RUB, whereas the notification was the same had been issued about a year ago.Sharma said, “We want RUB first, aquarium and sports hub later. Despite assurance by Mayor for the construction of the RUB, nothing concrete had been done so far. Now his tenure is going to end by September 9, he is planning to lay the foundation stone of other projects like aquarium and sports hub, but has forgotten this much-required RUB.”

The chamber representative said the BJP had made tall promises of constructing the RUB here while seeking votes during the Assembly elections in 2007, 2012 and parliamentary elections in 2009.

Though Punjab Local Bodies department had been issued the notification in August last year for acquiring 11-kanal 19-marla land around the Sodal railway crossing for the RUB, nothing had been done so far, he added. The notification was issued under Section 171 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 read with Section 50 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894.

Nearly one-fourth population of the city is suffering in the absence of any RUB here, as it gets stranded at the Sodal railway crossing and nearby Gajji-Gullah, Ram Nagar, Devi Talab and Kishanpura railway crossings.

Interestingly, over 150 trains pass through Jalandhar-Ferozepur and Jalandhar-Amritsar tracks located on these crossings daily. Thousands of residents of these localities had to suffer a lot to cross these crossings, as on an average, a train passes through these railway crossings every 10 minutes and the crossings remain closed for normal traffic most of the time. Residents living in the localities situated on the other side of the city also face similar problem when they had to go towards the above-mentioned localities for various works, he added.

Sometimes, these crossings remained closed for even 45 minutes, especially during peak hours, when three and even four trains passed. At that time, several pedestrians and two wheeler-borne persons were left with no option but to pass the closed railway crossings to reach to their destination on time, he said, adding that several persons, including two students and a lady teacher, were killed as they were crushed under trains while passing the closed crossing.

That is why, thousands of persons residing in localities situated across these railway crossings, falling under the Jalandhar North Assembly constituency, have been demanding building of either ROB or RUB for decades. The severity of the problem may be gauged from the fact that the welfare societies of Shiv Nagar, Mathura Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Kot Baba Deep Singh Nagar, Preet Nagar, Dada Colony, Aman Nagar, Kamal Park, Kailash Nagar, Sanjay Gandhi Nagar, Sodal Nagar, Royal Club Ram Nagar, Globe Colony and Gobind Nagar had also put up a hoarding beside the Ram Nagar crossing right before the last parliamentary elections held in 2009 to put pressure on politicians for the construction of ROB or RUB.

Factfile

We want the much-required RUB first and aquarium later, Jalandharities tell Mayor Members of the Chamber of Jalandhar Welfare Societies to show black flags in protest to Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal and Mayor Rakesh Rathour during the proposed foundation stone-laying ceremony of an aquarium on August 24 Over 150 trains pass through Jalandhar-Ferozepur and Jalandhar-Amritsar tracks located on these crossings daily The crossings remain closed for even 45 minutes during peak hours when three or even four trains pass Several persons have been killed as they were crushed under trains while passing the closed crossings