Now, flyover to Vishwakarma Chowk caves in; MC sleeps

Harshraj Singh

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 26

As broken roads and footpaths are already haunting commuters in various parts of the city, a portion of the footpath on the flyover from Jagraon Bridge towards Vishwakarma Chowk has caved in.

On Wednesday morning, a resident noticed the broken portion of the footpath. However, the civic body is yet to wake up. A city-based organisation of engineers has raised questions over the cave-in on the flyover.

Sharing his concern over the damaged portion of the flyover, a resident, Gurpal Singh Grewal, said he noticed the damaged portion this morning and shared the video on the social media. “I was shocked to see that a hole has appeared on the footpath along the flyover wall but the MC is still in a deep slumber. The civic body must take requisite measures to prevent a tragedy here,” he added.

Kapil Arora of the Council of Engineers said: “I inspected the flyover after getting information about its damaged portion. A portion of the footpath as well as road on the flyover has caved in due to continuous erosion of earth used for the construction of this flyover. The main reason behind this is the underside vertical joint which has widened with time. Whenever it rains, rainwater flows through this gap and erodes the flyover earth, causing a hollow space.”

“There are a few rat holes seen towards the lower side of this portion which are also one of the reason behind the cave-in. The condition of the RCC slab near this portion is also not good as the steel used in this slab is exposed to all weathering conditions and has rusted considerably. Good roads and footpaths are fundamental rights of the citizens of India but the MC is still sleeping. It should carry out necessary remedies or repairs to fix these structural defects without any further delay, otherwise it may cause fatal injuries to commuters,” he added.