Pakhowal Road ROB/RUB to cost 9cr more but work still incomplete

Ludhiana: While the slow pace of the under-construction railway overbridge/ railway underbridge (ROB/RUB) at Pakhowal Road railway crossing is testing the patience of commuters, it has also proved to be an expensive proposition for authorities.
The cost of the project has increased by Rs 9 crore to settle at around Rs 133 crore from the initial Rs 124 crore. The city-level technical committee has given the nod for this revision. The cost of another chain-link fencing project has also escalated as officials have proposed certain additions.
MC officials attributed the higher costs to changes in design, besides hike in the cost of construction material. They said that there was a change in the design of RUB part-2 and the length of the ROB at Pakhowal Road had also increased, pushing up the cost.
Work near Hero Bakery chowk at Pakhowal Road was hanging fire and the design has been changed. However, the project is far from completion.
Besides, in the project of chain link fencing at the banks of Buddha Nullah to stop people from throwing solid waste into the drain, officials have proposed to increase the number of gates from 23 to 240.
These gates will help civic officials conduct regular cleaning of the drain using machines.
The project cost has been increased by an additional Rs 1.75 crore to reach Rs 15.15 crore from Rs 13.40 crore.
Under this project, officials are installing chain-link fencing on both sides of the drain at a 28-km-long stretch falling within the MC limits.
Earlier, the gates were kept only near 23 bridgesnear the drain, but now it is felt that they might need to carry out cleaning at any location and the number of gates is being increased to 240.
Both of these projects fall under the Smart City project. MC officials will send the proposal to the government for approval.
Superintending engineer, bridges and road department Sanjay Kanwar confirmed the revision in the cost of projects.
Notably, it is not for the first time that smart city projects cost has escalated like this. Earlier, the cost of Sarabha Nagar beautification and Malhar Road projects was revised from Rs 38.25 crore to Rs 50.23 crore. However, even that project is incomplete.