City roads need immediate attention

Avneet Kaur
Jalandhar, February 23

Commuters are a harried lot as roads in the city are in a bad condition and need to be immediately repaired.

The roads leading to Luv Kush Chowk, Pratap Bagh, Bhagat Singh Chowk, railway station and bus stand are in a pitiable state. Also, one side of the two-way road near Kidney Hospital is filled with potholes and the main court road is also in a dilapidated condition.

Commuters complained that the patch work that is being carried out to fill potholes and repair broken stretches does not last even a month due to the poor quality of work and lack of proper supervision.

They said despite the hue and cry, the officials concerned hardly pay any heed to damaged roads, which pose a serious threat to commuters.

Kavita Garg, a city resident, said the civic body should construct or repair those roads which were in a dilapidated condition on a priority basis to check mishaps.

Residents of Waryam Nagar alleged that a part of the road near Kidney Hospital had been recarpeted a number of times. Substandard material was used for carpeting it due to which potholes appear even after one hour of downpour.

Mohinderpal Singh, a resident of the area, said: “The condition of the road, which is full of potholes, has become worrisome. The overflowing sewage is yet another problem. Water remains accumulated for days after rain. This shows that the work is not done as per quality specifications,” 

he said.

“Potholes add to the woes of commuters. They also receive injuries due to these. Two days ago, a motorcycle slipped after hitting a stone on the road. Many a times, commuters have complained about the same to the MC authorities but to no avail,” said a shopkeeper from the Pratap Bagh area.

A resident, Kuljeet Singh from Waryam Nagar, said: “We had contacted our councillor and MC officials many a times, they always say that a tender has been floated for the maintenance of the road and the work is in progress and they would repair roads soon. We pay taxes regularly but the government has failed to provide safe roads to us”, he added.

When contacted, Ashwani Chaudhary, MC Superintending Engineer, Building and Road Department, said: “All roads that are in a pitiable condition in the city are on the list of the MC and would be repaired soon.”

He said on many roads, there was a problem of sewerage pipes due to which its taking time to start the construction work. But we assure that the roads will be revamped at the earliest,” he said.

Authorities unmoved

The roads leading to Luv Kush Chowk, Pratap Bagh, Bhagat Singh Chowk, railway station and bus stand are in a pitiable state. Also, one side of the two-way road near Kidney Hospital is filled with potholes and the main court road is also in a dilapidated condition. Commuters said despite the hue and cry, the officials concerned hardly pay any heed to damaged roads, which pose a serious threat to commuters. They complained that the patch work being carried out to fill potholes and repair broken stretches did not last even a month.