Sanitation workers' stir leading to delay in road repair: Ludhiana MC official

The ongoing strike by sanitation workers has begun disrupting civic services in the city and has led to a delay in repair of a caved-in road near Mintgumri Chowk.

A Municipal Corporation (MC) official, requesting not to be named, said there was a shortage of technical staff as sewer workers and JCB operators had joined the strike. According to him, they could not assess whether the cave-in was due to an underlying problem with the sewerage system and could not initiate repairs.

The official said no JCB operator was available to excavate the damaged portion and assess the extent of the cave-in.

A portion of the road had caved in earlier this week and as a temporary safety measure, the MC has filled the damaged portion with soil, placed a concrete tile over it and stationed a water tanker at the spot to alert motorists.

However, the arrangement has narrowed the way, leading to traffic congestion during peak hours.

The issue was highlighted by activist Arvind Sharma, who also lodged a complaint with the MC’s monsoon helpline. According to him, officials informed him that the repair work could not be taken up as sewer employees participating in the strike were unavailable. He claimed to be told that the road would be repaired once the staff resumed duty.

Commuters using the busy stretch expressed concern over the delay. Dinesh Kumar, who uses the stretch regularly, said the road sees heavy traffic throughout the day and the temporary arrangement had been causing frequent traffic jams. He urged the authorities to restore the road at the earliest to avoid inconvenience to the public.