Demolition of bridge on Buddha Nullah stopped after residents’ protest

Ludhiana: BJP councillor Sunita Rani, along with residents of Ward 85, staged a protest against civic officials who had come to raze a bridge over Buddha Nullah near Jain Nagar on Thursday. The officials of MC’s Bridges and Roads department had come to dismantle the bridge with a plea that during the rainy season, garbage gets collected under the bridge, and water does not find a way to move ahead.
Residents rued that the bridge was being used by several people daily, and if it is dismantled, they would have to cross the area from another bridge, which remains crowded. However, with the intervention of mayor Balkar Sandhu, protestors were pacified, and civic officials moved away without carrying on the demolition.
A team of civic officials had reached the area on Thursday morning for demolishing the bridge, but residents had started gathering at the place, and before civic officials could take any step, they started opposing the move. The residents and the councillor sat on the bridge and started raising slogans against the civic authorities.
Sunita Rani said the bridge was mostly used by pedestrians, and generally women passed through the bridge, because there was an illegal fish market nearby, and it was difficult for women to use another bridge near Shivpuri. She said officials were turning a blind eye towards the illegal fish market, and one bridge in a dilapidated condition needed to be dismantled. She said they ended their protest only when the mayor first assured that inspection would be done at the spot, and only after that would any decision be taken.
This bridge has been used for quite a long time. In 1998, a concrete bridge was constructed, and in 2004, it was repaired as well.