Title - SOLVING TRAFFIC CHAOS ON AND AROUND BHANDARI RAILWAY OVERBRIDGE MC proposes to extend elevated road

Amritsar: Having taken the charge to develop a plan to resolve the persistent traffic chaos on and around Bhandari railway overbridge, better known as Uchcha pul, the Municipal Corporation has proposed to extend the elevated road till the railway station.Going by the report of RITES Limited, a Government of India enterprise, over 1 lakh vehicles pass through this bridge in 24 hours. The study is substantiated by a report of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on vehicular pollution around Bhandari bridge.The PPCB has termed it the most polluted area due to vehicular pollution between 9 am and 8 pm. At Bhandari bridge, the PPCB found the particulate matter as high as 599 per cubic metre (µgm/m3) during peak hours and 232 per cubic metre (µgm/m3) during lean traffic hours.Even though it has been since the problem of traffic chaos in and around the bridge started, the administration took notice of it only a couple of years back.But since then, it has not moved beyond the planning stage.It may be mentioned that a proposal to widen the railway overbridge, which connects the walled city with the new city, was dropped after spending 20 months in planning, meetings and debates.The Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), the funding agency for the project, has to forego the advance of Rs 12 lakh submitted to RITES Limited to carry out the feasibility study. The Railways had rejected the proposal to widen the bridge as iron angles distinguishing its main road from the pedestrian paths on both sides could not be removed. Besides, being a cantilever bridge and keeping in view its age, it was found infeasible to spend so much money on its widening.Subsequently, the matter was incorporated in the comprehensive mobility plan (CMP) for the city.MC Commissioner Dharam Pal Gupta said as many as 17 bridges of the city are under the comprehensive mobility plan. “The matter of Bhandari bridge is in the initial planning stage. As per the plan, the elevated road could be stretched another half a km starting from Bhandari bridge to the railway station. After carrying out the feasibility study, we will be able to know where to construct the ramps,” he said.

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Going by the report of RITES Limited, a Government of India enterprise, over 1 lakh vehicles pass through this bridge in 24 hours.

The study is substantiated by a report of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on vehicular pollution around Bhandari bridge. The PPCB has termed it the most polluted area due to vehicular pollution between 9 am and 8 pm. At Bhandari bridge, the PPCB found the particulate matter as high as 599 per cubic metre (µgm/m3) during peak hours and 232 per cubic metre (µgm/m3) during lean traffic hours. Even though it has been since the problem of traffic chaos in and around the bridge started, the administration took notice of it only a couple of years back. But since then, it has not moved beyond the planning stage