Another cave-in on Pakhowal Road, makeshift arrangements raise concerns

A fresh cave-in at Vikas Nagar Chowk on the busy Pakhowal Road has again exposed the vulnerability of the city’s road infrastructure. Though the Municipal Corporation (MC) has covered the crater and stationed a trailer near the spot, the makeshift arrangements have sparked public concerns, with residents and commuters fearing that the civic body is waiting for a tragedy before taking a decisive action.

The incident occurred late on Friday night, when a section of the road caved in near the chowk, disrupting traffic. By Saturday afternoon, MC workers had covered the depression with loose gravel and stationed a trailer near the caved-in spot, a move many described as a temporary fix rather than a solution.

“They’ve just put some material over it. No proper repair and warning signs. It’s like they are expecting no untoward incident will occur,” said Arvind Sharma, a social activist.

A shopkeeper, whose shopfront faces the damaged stretch, said with monsoon rains intensifying, citizens were urging the MC to conduct immediate structural assessments and implement permanent repairs before another collapse endangers lives.

Experts attribute recurring collapses to poor drainage, ageing pipelines and overloaded traffic.

“Makeshift repairs may last for a few days but they fail to address the underlying erosion. Without proper soil stabilisation and drainage correction, cave-ins will keep occurring,” said a Ludhiana-based civil engineer.

Despite repeated incidents, the MC had failed to implement long-term solutions, residents said.

“We’re tired of waiting. Every time there’s a cave-in, they cover it and move on. What if a school van falls in next time?” said Simran Kaur, a local resident and mother of two kids.

MC JE Dharampal, who was getting the repair work done, said he came to know about the cave-in on Saturday morning and got it covered by the afternoon. “We have stationed a trailer near the spot as the repair work will take some time. Such incidents occur due to leakage in underground water pipes,” he said.