Rain turns roads slushy, traders fume

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 22

Industrialists are a harried lot due to the pitiable state of kuccha (non-concrete) roads in the industrial area near Verka Bypass Chowk, Balata Road. They say that even a moderate rain forces them to cancel their consignments roads turn slushy, thus making it impossible for heavy vehicles to ply in the area.

There are several major manufacturing units and godowns of traders in the area.

Ankit Sharma, a tile trader, said, “I can’t receive or send goods due to slush on roads. I have been sitting idle for the last two weeks. Roads cave in due to heavy vehicles. We have to arrange ditch machines to pull such vehicles out of the potholes which cost Rs 2,000 every time.”

Subash Behal, another trader, said, “ We met politicians, including Navot Kaur Sidhu and Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu, but to no avail. They claimed that the government didn’t have funds.”

When contacted, area councillor Jaswinder Singh said, “Almost 70 per cent of my ward has kuccha roads. Our priority is to provide streets, water and sewerage in residential areas. We don’t have funds for concretising roads in the industrial area.”