Deep potholes, uneven road surfaces on the way to hospital irk commutersStretch from Bhandari RoB to Civil Hospital cries for attention

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 5

Many deep potholes on the stretch from the ramp of Bhandari railway overbridge (RoB) to the Jallinwala Bagh Civil Hospital offer a bumpy ride to commuters.

Big potholes and uneven surface infrastructure at the intersection on the way to the hospital hassles commuters.

Gursewak Singh, who was escorting a patient, said the stretch assumed importance as the alternate routes — from the Hukam Singh road and the Rambagh road — have continuous traffic. The route from the ramp to the hospital is short and remains largely free from high volume of traffic. Perhaps, the ramp being narrow does not invite a large number of vehicles. However, big potholes on the ramp that offers one-way route only for descending vehicles come no less than a shock. “One cannot escape from these as these are in the middle of the road,” he said.

Similar deep potholes are found in the connecting Gha Mandi road, which further turns to the Rambagh railway crossing. On this road are located two entrances to the Civil Hospital and one of these is for postmortem. Some potholes are so deep that it causes wear and tear to vehicles.

Tarsem, who runs a kiosk close to the hospital, says for nearly one-and-a-half years, the Gha Mandi Chowk remained occupied under the scaffoldings, installed for the construction of BRTS stations on the elevated road. These were removed only a few months ago. The road was re-carpeted, but some portions were left out. Now, these portions of uneven patches offer a bumpy ride to commuters. Besides, the gravel keeps coming out, causing many vehicles to skid.

Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said he would direct the department concerned to carry out the repair on the stretch.