Three arteries of Ludhiana blocked, traffic on ventilator

LUDHIANA: Another key artery of the city has been closed for repair. With the closure of the decades-old bridge near Chand Cinema, three lifelines of the industrial town have been closed for movement of traffic. The bridge — which was declared unsafe around 10 years ago — was closed by traffic police on Monday evening, after receiving a recommendation from civic authorities. However, the authorities claimed they had only asked to stop the entry of heavy vehicles on the bridge, but traffic cops had closed the bridge for all vehicles.
Already, traffic congestion has added to the woes of residents passing through Jagraon Bridge and Gill Chowk flyover, and now they will face a tough time on Jalandhar Bypass as well. Traffic congestion becomes severe during peak hours in the morning and evening. The over 100-year-old bridge near Chand Cinema links traffic coming from the elevated road and railway station road to Jalandhar Bypass. Now, when authorities have closed this bridge, traffic has been diverted from an adjoining small bridge. During peak hours, the load of traffic increases and people face a tough time passing through the bridge due to the heavy rush.

City-based architect Sanjay Goel — one of the directors of Ludhiana Smart City Limited — said one side of the Jagraon Bridge was closed to traffic for the past two years, and now Gill Chowk flyover is also closed. He said the bridge on Chand Cinema has also been closed to traffic, while Ferozepur Road, Delhi-Amritsar highway, and Chandigarh Road are also under construction. “Even internal roads are under encroachments, and civic authorities are unable to remove them,” he added.

Echoing the same view, businessman Harish Kumar Verma, a resident of Civil Lines, said traffic in the city had gone haywire due to closure of bridges and construction work on some major roads. He said authorities should concentrate on solving the problem of traffic jams as soon as possible. MC commissioner Jaskiran Singh said they had asked to curb the entry of heavy vehicles, but traffic police had closed the movement of all vehicles. He said he would conduct a meeting with the deputy commissioner over the issue, and request for opening the bridge to light vehicles until the repair of Gill Chowk flyover.

Meanwhile, ACP Traffic Gurdev Singh said they had sought a clarification regarding the demand raised by MC, whether it should be closed only for heavy traffic or for all types of vehicles. He said they had closed the bridge on a trial basis, just to observe the outcome and traffic problem. “We observed the volume of traffic throughout the day on Tuesday on this bridge,” he added.

The repair of the bridge would take at least a year if funds are available. MC executive engineer Tirath Bansal said: “Repair will be done by MC, but due to paucity of funds, they are first of all arranging money to construct the bridge. If they get the money, only then will repair begin, because in case the contractor starts the work and he does not get payment, then work will come to a halt in between. Moreover, they are yet to start the designing and tendering procedure, which would take at least six months.”