Chandigarh: Pothole ‘vanishes’ hours after BJP councillor falls, breaks arm

BJP councillor Vinod Aggarwal fractured his right arm after he lost his balance and fell on a pockmarked street at Manimajra on Sunday, where he had gone to attend a jagran.

He fell near the main bazaar’s entrance adjoining the qila after tripping on a pothole full of slush, after which he was advised rest of a month.

Aggarwal alerted the local BJP councillor, Jagtar Singh Jagga, soon after the incident.

Soon after, civic officials were quick to fill this particular pothole while turning a blind eye to a host of other craters on the street.

Mostly devoid of street lights, the stretch is a challenge for commuters, especially those on two-wheelers, many of whom have met with accidents.

Sanjay Bhajni, a local resident, said that for the last one and a half years, they have been consistently requesting the local authorities to fill the potholes, but in vain.

“Around six months ago, they laid pipelines here and left the streets uprooted. There has been leakage in those pipelines as well and more potholes are developing because of the leakage,” said Bhajni.

He further said, “Some school children who were crossing the area also fell here and hurt their knees. If you can’t make streets, at least don’t leave potholes there.”

Pardeep Manchanda, president of the Manimajra Welfare Association, said that the streets were also very narrow, leading to congestion.

“When we complained to the civic body a few months ago, they did temporary repair work on the potholes. But just one spell of rain washed that away,” he said, adding that the streets haven’t been recarpeted for around a decade now.

Local councillor Jagtar Singh Jagga told Chandigarh Newsline that the work of filling the potholes had stopped due to the code of conduct and will resume immediately after the polls.

“In fact, all of Manimajra has come under the Smart City and for 24×7 water supply, all pipelines are being laid afresh. So the streets anyway have to be uprooted and constructed afresh,” he added.

He further said, “The area was slippery and that is how he slipped. But we have got most of the potholes repaired.” Jagga added that they will now be making pavered streets.