Work begins on proposed RUB at Manimajra rail crossing

Uprooting of trees in progress for the construction of railway under bridge on Wednesday. (Express)

WORK ON the much-awaited road under bridge (RUB), at Manimajra railway crossing-126, has finally begun. The horticulture wing of the Chandigarh Administration has started uprooting 23 trees, which fall in the Modern Housing Complex, on Wednesday. While 15 of the 23 trees would be replanted, the rest were not found fit for replantation. Some of the uprooted trees were replanted near the Fire Station, Manimajra. Though the rail ministry had given the go-ahead for the RUB in 2013, the foundation stone was laid in April 2017.

Junior Engineer, Horticulture, Kuljeet Singh, said, “The horticulture wing is the first to start work on the construction site. All the earmarked trees will be uprooted and some of them will be replanted. Apart from the horticulture wing, the road engineering and anti-encroachment wings will also do their jobs on the earmarked sites. A dozen shops have to be vacated from the earmarked locations and the cables and sewage lines, passing under the earth near the railway crossing, will also be shifted. The underbridge will be similar to the one built in the neighbouring city of Panchkula in front of the Mansa Devi shrine.”

A senior official of the engineering department said it would take around a year to complete the construction of the RUB. Sources in the railway construction unit said, “In the earlier months of 2017, we made a detailed roadmap for the construction of RUB. The RUB will be of low height, under which CTU buses cannot pass. The total height of the RUB will be 10 feet and width 36 feet. The Chandigarh Administration has already sanctioned Rs 5 crore to the railway authorities. A system will also be in place to drain out the rainwater from the RUB.” The construction of RUB at the Manimajra railway crossing has been a long-pending demand of thousands of residents of Manimajra. The railway crossing always witnessed a huge traffic chaos whenever a train passed and the crossing closes for road commuters from both sides.

Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, Dinesh Sharma, said he would comment on the development after checking the exact status of the ongoing work.