Pathetic condition of roads continues to inconvenience commuters in Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, February 1

The dilapidated condition of various roads has become a nightmare for commuters as the authorities concerned have failed to get huge potholes repaired on a timely basis despite repeated demands raised by the people in the past. A number of mishaps have also occurred on such roads that are crying for immediate attention.

The commuters face a lot of inconvenience due to the potholes on Dugri Road, Gill Road, Dana Mandi to Dugri Chowk Road, Ishmeet Singh Road, Model Town Market road, Sherpur Road, Metro Road, Dhandari flyover road, roads in the Haibowal area and other stretches in the Municipal Corporation limits.

Besides, the badly broken Southern Bypass Road of the PWD and 200-Feet Road of GLADA are yet to be repaired. After the recent rainfall, the condition of broken roads has become worse.

A former member of the Ludhiana West Grievances Redressal Committee, Satish Thaman, said the badly broken roads were an open invitation to more road mishaps. “The safety of commuters is being ignored as the potholed stretches were not repaired timely here. Also, newly recarpeted or reconstructed roads are getting damaged within a short time. It is observed that a number of the roads that were recarpeted without removing old layers in haste got damaged in a short time. The departments concerned must ensure the provision of good quality roads in the city. Whenever any pothole appears, it must be repaired immediately, instead of waiting for the appearance of more potholes,” he said.

A resident, Baljeet Singh, said the departments concerned had not even taken any temporary measures to get potholes filled. “Loose gravel on broken roads is also posing a grave threat to the commuters. The two-wheeler riders can lose balance while passing over such stretches,” he said.

Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said the contractors concerned would start recarpeting the broken roads, which were under MC limits, once the weather conditions become normal. Then, MC would also run its hot-mix plant to carry out the work to repair the potholed roads.

An official of PWD said the department would float tenders to repair Southern Bypass Road.