Construction of railway over bridge in Punjab starts soon

Chandigarh: Harbhajan Singh ETO, the public works minister of Punjab, announced on Friday that construction of a new railway over bridge (ROB) on the Harike-Jira-Bathinda section of national highway 54 will start within a week. This announcement was made during a session in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, following a question from MLA Naresh Kataria. ETO confirmed that all land for the project has been acquired and the contract is awarded. In response to questions about other projects, ETO said that the construction of the fourth leg of the Chatiwind Canal has also been approved. The approval came from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on January 5 under the CRIF Scheme for 2024-25. Administrative approval was granted on March 10, and the tender process will begin soon, with funding tied to the project's progress. Regarding the construction of new chambers for lawyers in the Amritsar court complex, ETO stated that the lawyers will manage this project themselves, according to a government notification from November 2002. The bar association will cover the expenses, and ETO assured that he would speak with the revenue department about the matter. Finally, addressing a question from MLA Karambir Singh, ETO informed that a project to widen a 23.65 km stretch from Sahaura Kandi to Pandori Atwal has been awarded to a contractor for about ₹19.51 crore. Approvals from the forest department are still in process, but he expects the work to be completed on time once these approvals are obtained.