Road caved in 10 days ago, but yet to be repaired

Manav Mander

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 25

The road at Kailash Chowk caved in more than 10 days ago, but has not been repaired so far. It was closed for public, as a result, commuters and shopkeepers are facing a harrowing time.

“It’s not the first time that this road has caved in. Last year also it caved in thrice. The authorities repaired it three times but this time, it has caved in after the first rainfall only. Probably, it was not repaired properly,” said Anmol Bhatia, who owns a two-wheeler agency near Kailash Chowk.

Another shopkeeper said commuters generally walk through his shop to cross the road. “Sometimes, it is an elderly person who wants to cross the road and sometimes it is a woman carrying a kid. So, it becomes very difficult to stop them. Now, people use my shop to cross the road. The road caved in on July 12 and no action has been taken by the authorities to repair it so far,” he said.

Kamlesh Kaur, who lives nearby, said ever since the road has caved in, she had to go all the way to another roundabout to reach this side of the road. “The road caves in every time after rainfall and it becomes very difficult to commute, as it was a shortcut to our house,” she said.

Chhote Lal, who runs a departmental store across the road, said the number of customers coming to his shop has decreased ever since the road caved in. “It has been more than 10 days and authorities should wake up to take some action,” he said.

“I generally fill fuel in my car from the petrol station located across the road, but after the road caved in, I have to go to the Cemetery Road, which falls out of my way. It is causing great inconvenience,” said Jagdish Kumar, who lives nearby.

Not only this, several clinics, police station, petrol station, departmental and other shops are located across the road. People are no doubt facing inconvenience, but shopkeepers, too, are facing losses as the road has become unapproachable.

When contacted Renu Mintoo Sharma, councillor of Ward No. 29 under which the area comes, said he was aware of the problem and was working on it. “The officials from water supply and sewerage board came to access the situation today. Last year the Municipal Corporation had fixed the problem, but since it is re-occurring we are taking the help of sewerage board this time so that the problem can be solved permanently,” he said.