The Indian Express                 29.10.2013

Another bridge above Jagraon bridge?

In order to de-congest the area near Jagraon bridge and relieving the
residents travelling to Chandigarh or coming to Ludhiana from
Chandigarh, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation is planning to make
another bridge right above the already existing Jagraon bridge.

Not only this, the MC is also planning to widen the already
existing bridge by removing the railings and putting the strong pillars
from beneath.

While these are both long-term plans to avoid the area turning
into a bottleneck as the eight-laning of road from Durga Mata Mandir
Chowk to Sidhwan canal will start, there is a short-term plan too which
the MC has proposed. This plan is to trim the triangle-shaped green
island where the statues of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev
stand to widen the road and accommodate more vehicles.

MC Commissioner Rahul Tewari on Sunday visited the Jagraon bridge
along with Additional Commissioner Sumit Jarangal and ACP (Traffic)
Deepak Hilori, and discussed all three proposals.

Talking to Newsline after the visit, Tewari said, “As
eight-laning starts, Jagraon bridge will again be a bottleneck for city.
To avoid that, we have made two long-term and one short-term proposals.
In our first long-term proposal, we are planning to make another bridge
which will run parallel above existing bridge, taking commuters to
Vishwakarma Chowk directly from Durga Mata Mandir Chowk.”

“In the second long-term proposal, we are planning to widen the
already existing bridge with insertion of pillars and removal of
railings to accommodate more vehicles. It will be a relief for people
coming to Ludhiana from Chandigarh,” said Tewari.

He said that since both the plans would require assistance from
the railways, the consultancy firm RITES had been given responsibility
to contact them and also find out the cost that would be incurred on
both the plans.

Talking about the short-term plan, Tewari said that the “green
triangle on which statues of martyrs stand will be trimmed to make more
vehicles move smoothly”.

Asked if there would be any effect on the statues, he said, “The
statues will be properly maintained even if the green belt is trimmed
for vehicles.” Fifteen days’ time had been given to the engineers to
study the short-term plan’s implementation, he added.

‘Will make Rose Garden show a weekly feature’

MC Commissioner Rahul Tewari on Sunday evening went to the Rose
Garden to see performance of children from the Ishmeet Singh Music
Academy. Singh, a Ludhiana-based singer, had won the Voice of India TV
reality show and later died. “We are planning to make this performance a
weekly feature at Rose Garden for the entertainment of residents,” he
said.