Bumpy ride on 200-foot road tests commuters’ patience

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 6

Lack of coordination between two government departments and incomplete process of handing over road maintenance work from one department to another has left commuters inconvenienced. The authorities concerned have failed to pay attention to the badly broken 200-foot road, which connects Phullanwal Chowk and Dugri-Dhandra Road, Ludhiana.

At present, the broken road falls under the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA), which has not ensured its re-carpeting.

An official said GLADA had already started the process to handover the road to the Municipal Corporation (MC). But, the MC had not yet taken over the road maintenance work, he added.

Meanwhile, no steps have been taken to fill big potholes on the road even after the passing of the rainy season leaving thousands of commuters to suffer.

It is one of the widest roads in the city. Due to the apathy of the authorities concerned, the broken road not only invites mishaps, but also damages vehicles. Also, the poor condition of service lanes is being ignored by the authorities.

A city resident Dr Amandeep Singh Bains said, “The 200-foot road near Flower Chowk and in the Dugri Phase II and III areas is in most deplorable condition on both sides. The commuters are forced to apply sudden brakes and then move ahead slowly and carefully due to big and deep potholes even during the daytime. The road is dangerous for two-wheeler riders as nine inch deep potholes are not visible at night. The authorities concerned must wake up and pay attention to problems being faced by a large number of commuters.”

A Dhandra Road resident, Sanjay Tewari said, “The main 200-foot road was repaired last year, but now it is more broken. The service lanes are too in shambles. The authorities concerned should pay attention and take required measures immediately to provide relief to commuters. The responsibilities of the contractor and officials should be fixed if any road is damaged in a short span after re-carpeting or construction.”

A GLADA official Parminder Singh said, “Earlier, GLADA floated tenders for the 200-foot road work. These tenders have been cancelled as the stretch is to be handed over to the Ludhiana MC. A draft has been sent to handover the 200-foot road to the MC recently. The civic body has not yet accepted it.”

Newly appointed GLADA Chief Administrator Rishipal Singh said he would look into matter regarding broken stretch.

Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said, “GLADA will have to ensure re-carpeting of the 200-foot road if it has to handover the stretch to the Municipal Corporation. It’s a rule that the department concerned is responsible to ensure re-carpeting before handing over any road to another department.”

Traffic lights cry for attention

Traffic lights are not functional at an intersection near Phullanwal village on the 200-foot road. Jaswinder Singh, a pedestrian, said: “It is difficult to cross the stretch from here. If traffic lights are available these should be made functional to avert accidents on the road.”

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