Nawanshahr, July 9- The topic of discussion among the people, Garhshankar bypass, seems to be in the air at the moment. The ruling party leaders, especially the Garhshankar MLA and his colleagues, made claims that the bypass will be built soon, but an RTI application has dispelled their claims. RTI Activist Parvinder Singh Kitna had asked the office of the Chief Secretary of the Punjab Government when and by which department the written proposal for the construction of a bypass at Garhshankar was sent and if this proposal has been approved, when was the approval given. It was also asked what role will be played by which government departments such as PWD, Town Planning, Revenue Department, Forest Department and Punjab Pollution Control Board etc. in this project and which officers such as DC, SDM and Town Planner etc. have been involved in this project so far.
No office at the Chandigarh level responded to the letter sent on 19 April 2025. On 07 July 2025, Sub-Divisional Engineer, PWD Garhshankar, while replying to the RTI, said that the proposal for the bypass was sent by them but only in-principle approval has been given to this project by the Punjab Government, the final approval is still under consideration of the government.
The probable length of the bypass is 15 km but the width, whether it will be one lane or two lanes and other details have not been prepared yet. Neither has a map of the bypass been prepared nor is it known through which villages this bypass will pass, although the letter sent by PWD to the Chief Engineer Central has proposed to build this bypass from a palace near village Goleen on Garhshankar-Hoshiarpur road to village Gogon on Garhshankar-Shri Anandpur Sahib road.
Under RTI, it was also asked what the estimated cost of the bypass would be and from which sources this money would be available such as the state government, central government, NABARD, World Bank etc. In response, it has been said that the estimated cost can be given only after the project is approved. Even the department has no idea about the probable date of commencement and completion of the bypass project.
Parvinder Singh Kitna said that in-principle approval does not mean that the bypass project has been approved in every way. The Punjab government has imposed a condition that actual administrative approval can be given only on the basis of ‘importance of the work’ and ‘availability of budget’. It is clear from this that no work on Garhshankar bypass is going to start in the near future. The ruling leaders should not give false dreams to the people. At present, the claims of the bypass being built seem like ‘Palle na Dhela, Kardi Mela-Mela’.