Ravi Dhaliwal
Gurdaspur, October 20
Voices to upgrade the 22-km stretch of the Gurdaspur-Mukerian road into a four-lane highway are getting shriller with every passing day. The stretch is marked with potholes throughout the year leading to frequent accidents.
The road has become the most accident prone thoroughfare in the entire district following its narrow width.
The area through which the road passes is a waterlogged one. PWD officials often find it hard to get repairs and repaving carried out. “The rise in the water table causes rise of water into the sub-grade, the basic material underneath a constructed road. Things are back to square one just days after we undertake repairs,” said an officer.
Officials say the four-lane highway should be built with high-class material that can counter waterlogging. This way, the Jalandhar-Pathankot and Gurdaspur-Amritsar national highways will also be interconnected. This, in turn, will boost the micro economy of the area.
Manjit Singh Dala, a frequent traveler, cites the location of the Tibri Cantonment which is one of the biggest Army areas in the country, as the other big reason for the upgrade. “For the Army, it will be much easier to move men and hardware in a war-like situation. In 2016, when forces were dispatched to the border following a war-like situation that developed after the surgical strikes, the Army found it difficult to get moving due to heavy traffic and narrow road,” he said.
In July 2015, when three Pakistan-based militants took control of the Dinanagar police station, the administration had requisitioned the services of the Army. Again, keeping in view the heavy rush of vehicles, the Army faced a harrowing time. By the time the forces arrived, the Punjab Police had already flushed out the terrorists.
“Widening of the road will give a big respite to pilgrims coming from various parts of India to visit the Kartarpur corridor. It will also benefit sugarcane farmers who have to go to sugar mills located in Mukerian and Dasuya,” said Baghel Singh, a sugarcane farmer of Bahian village.
A PWD official acknowledged that it was high time the four-lane highway was constructed.
