Bhogpur traders stand in the way

After representations from MP Vinod Khanna, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) suddenly sprang into action. Work was distributed among two contractors: the Bhogpur-Mukerian stretch went to Bridge & Roof India Ltd, and the Mukerian-Pathankot stretch to ITD Cementation India Ltd.

Unfortunately, even before it could get into first gear, the project hit the brakes at Bhogpur, a mofussil town of 20,000, over the issue of a flyover.

Charanjit Arora, owner of a sweetmeats shop and head of the Flyover Roko Sangharsh Committee floated by shopkeepers last year, complained that the concrete flyover (to be built without pillars) would divide the town, with a grain market on one side and a sugar mill on the other.

Townsfolk say the market road is 30.5 feet wide, more than the 28 feet NHAI requires for four-laning. They say they aren’t against four-laning; what they don’t want is the flyover.

“We will remove all encroachments in 24 hours to help the authorities four-lane the road, and won’t mind even if the road is about a foot or so higher than the level at which our shops are,” says Arora, waving a sheaf of letters from political leaders of all hues, including Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, asking Union Minister for Road Transport T R Baalu to “save Bhogpur.”

Evidently, the traders’ lobby here is quite influential.

But NHAI project director D S Dehal says the Punjab government has no say in the decision, and that a flyover is the only solution. As a concession, they may plan for more roads feeding traffic into it.

With the Bhogpur stalemate still on, the contractor has turned his attention to the stretch ahead. Mounds of earth and men in orange jackets are the only giveaway of work in progress.

At Mukerian too, houses and auto agencies sit rooted to the roadside, leaving little room for expansion.

But Dehal asserts that NHAI is at work: ‘‘We began working on four-laning this stretch till Lakhanpur on the J-K border in November last year. While half of the clearing had to be done by May, the other half was scheduled for November.’’

The only roadblock that Dehal can see is the 11-km-long stretch falling in Himachal before Pathankot. ‘‘Tree felling is yet to start there but we are talking to the state government and hope to clear the stretch by July end,’’ he says.

A board offering Punjab Ki Sab Se Sasti Sharaab welcomes you to the Himachal territory that lies untouched. A little ahead, the road in Mirthal is completely potholed. And then it’s back to Himachal, with 4 km of undulating road hemmed between mountains.

Tarun Singarai, the representative of ITD Cementation responsible for the Mukerian-Pathankot patch, admits there are some glitches. ‘‘I wish the Punjab government was more supportive,’’ he sighs.

The company, he says, is doing its best with an army of 50 field engineers and 20 support staff. ‘‘We might have to employ more once the work gets going,’’ he says.