Oscar Fernandes, Union Cabinet Minister for Transport, Road and Highways paid a surprise visit at Yamunanagar to see the condition of damaged National Highway-73 from Yamunanagar to Saharanpur on Friday.
He was accompanied by RS Punia, OSD to Kumari Selja Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment. Darshan Khera, president of block Congress committee Yamunanagar and former president of Municipal Council Jagadhari, told The Pioneer that the visit of Union Minister was a secret affair and neither local MlA nor the local administration had any prior information.
“Fernandes arrived here on his car by road and took a look at the damaged NH-73. The Union Minister was disgusted to see the condition of the highway and he called up the concerned officials and asked for explanation,” added Khera. According to sources, Union minister came here for the first time on his secret visit on the recommendation of Kumari Selja to see the condition of road.
Three months back, a team of officials from Transport, Road and Highways Ministry had also paid a visit and sanctioned Rs 10 crore to repair the road but nothing has been done so far.NH-73 from Yamunanagar to Saharanpur is very important highway. It is the only road which connects Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand.
According to the locals, daily around 4000 tractor trolleys ply on this road and hence the condition of the road is very bad. Three to four feet deep pits can be seen everywhere. And most of the time, this road has traffic jam. Vehicles take more than two hours to cover 11 km stretches between Yamunanagar to Saharanpur area.