SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, March 16: The perennial problem of traffic jams in Dhanbad city would be over soon as the deck has been cleared for construction of the second passage under Gaya Rail Bridge on National Highway-32 near Shramik Chowk.
A senior official of the Road Construction Department (RCD) today said that on the directive of Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner Sandip Singh, engineering service company Rail India Technical Economic Survey (RITES) Kolkata has been ordered to prepare the DPR for a second underpass near Shramik Chowk.
The underpass of Gaya rail overbridge on NH- 32 near Shramik Chowk, which connects Govindpur of Dhanbad to Jamshedpur, is considered the lifeline of Dhanbad traffic. But due to the perennial traffic jam under the bridge, the life of the coal city often becomes paralyzed.
Dhanbad Sadar MLA Raj Sinha had last week also met Chief Minister Hemant Soren in this regard in the assembly and requested him for removing the hurdle in the construction of the proposed Bank More and Matkuria flyovers in the coal city for the solution of traffic jams.
The chief minister reportedly took the matter seriously and directed Secretary of RCD Sunil Kumar to clear the file.
“The chief minister assured me of the construction of the proposed flyovers and the underpass of Gaya rail overbridge. I hope the traffic jam problem will be solved soon,” said Raj Sinha.
The RCD senior official said that the railway has demanded Rs 1.30 crores as compensation for 103 dismal land, the building of the engineering department and the godown that would be demolished in the construction of the second underpass.
“Since at the meeting with DC, the divisional railway manager (DRM) has agreed for a second underpass, the construction work would start once getting DPR of RITES,” said the RCD official.
He also said that since the DC has taken a keen interest in giving the denizens relief from traffic jams, construction of the second underpass would be completed on a priority basis.
