Overturning of overloaded truck in Ludhiana highlights holes in road safety

The recent incident at Bharat Nagar Chowk where an overloaded truck carrying wheat sacks overturned on an under-construction elevated section, causing significant damage to vehicles and injuries to commuters, has raised serious concerns about public safety and accountability in ongoing urban road projects.

Preliminary reports indicate that the truck’s instability was exacerbated by the design and construction of the elevated flyover, including narrow lanes, insufficient load safety barriers and inadequate warning signage. These conditions contributed to the cargo spill and the damage to multiple vehicles.

Dr Kamal Soi, road expert, told The Tribune that strong side barriers must be installed on all elevated and under-construction roads to prevent vehicles or cargo from falling onto the traffic below. There should be clear warnings about construction hazards and load restrictions should be placed at least 500 meters before the site.

“The incident serves as a wake-up call for construction authorities, municipal bodies and transport operators to prioritise safety and prevent avoidable accidents. The local administration must hold responsible parties accountable and implement immediate remedial measures to ensure that no commuter suffers similar damages in the future,” he said.

Rahul Verma, traffic expert, said elevated bridge needs immediate attention to prevent such accidents in the future. Had there been any causality in the incident, who would accept the responsibility, he questioned.

Social activist engineer Kapil Arora said the elevated bridge had many shortcomings and immediate technical audit was required. “From the day one, I have raised questions over safety issues that need to be addressed immediately. The yesterday’s incident is a reminder that if immediate audit is not conducted and safety gaps are not filled, the administration is waiting for a major tragedy to happen. There is also immediate need to install extended safety grills on bridge walls, especially at the place where bridge witness a curve,” he added.

When asked if any steps are being taken to ensure safety of commuters, ADCP (Traffic) Gurpreet Purewal said the police had already installed barricading at both sides of the bridge where traffic police personnel prevent entry of heavy vehicles from 9 am to 9 pm. Even the yesterday’s incident occurred at 8 am.

“The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has built the bridge and it’s officials would be in a better position to comment about safety gaps, if any,” the ADCP said.