Jalandhar: A local MLA’s attempt to craft a “mini-bypass” over a railway track to ease traffic in Hoshiarpur district’s Garhshankar town has stirred a political row.Punjab assembly deputy speaker and local MLA Jai Krishan Singh Rouri dumped earth along the tracks to create the temporary route, later posting videos of the work on his Facebook page. Opposition members, including BJP constituency in-charge Nimisha Mehta and Congress’s Pankaj Kirpal, slammed the move as a dangerous stopgap. They accused Rouri of ignoring govt agencies, felling trees illegally and dismantling railway safety barriers. The town has been grappling with congestion due to commuter and transit traffic, prompting long-standing demands for an official bypass. Social worker Baba Satnam Singh originally carved out the passage through ‘kar sewa’ to ease traffic to Anandpur Sahib, especially during Hola Mohalla, when thousands of vehicles pass daily for around a week. Railway authorities later blocked it with steel girders. RTI activist Parvinder Singh Kitna has sent a complaint to railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister of state V Somanna, Northern Railway general manager and Ferozepur division DRM against Rouri. Kitna has sought an independent inquiry, registration of FIR, restoration of railway safety infrastructure and clarification regarding unauthorised removal of railway safety barricades, damage to railway property, illegal use of land and endangerment of public safety at the Garhshankar railway crossing. Rouri denied all allegations, saying he only got earth filled in a pit to make the passage and plans to strengthen it. MSID:: 132662053 413 |
