Ludhiana: A portion of Chandigarh Road that caved in on Saturday could not be rectified even on Sunday due to heavy flow of sewerage water coming from residential areas. On Saturday, the road near Jamalpur Chowk had caved in, and on one side, even a tipper had got stuck.
Since then, civic officials are trying to rectify the fault. Almost 30-40 feet portion of the road from Ludhiana to Chandigarh has been dug up by civic officials, because the old sewerage line has got damaged. Traffic is blocked on both sides, and is being diverted from inside the adjoining localities. This road is used by commuters moving to and from Ludhiana to Chandigarh, and there are so many residential colonies beside it.
MC officials claimed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was doing the four-laning of this road, and in the ongoing process of undergrounding the electricity cables, the sewerage line passing under the road got damaged, and the road caved in. On Saturday night as well as Sunday throughout the day, the repair work continued on the road. But since it is the main sewerage line, sewage water from all localities passes through this point, so it is affecting the pace of repair work. Consequently, even in adjoining localities, overflowing sewerage has created problems for residents.
Congress councillor Vineet Bhatia said, “The work is going on, but there is excess water there, because the public has not stopped using water for their daily chores.” He said it all happened due to lack of coordination between MC and NHAI officials, despite the fact that he had asked NHAI employees not to dig up the road for undergrounding the cables without MC’s consent, but his plea went unheard.
He said now sewerage was overflowing in sectors 38, 39, and adjoining areas. He claimed he would take up this issue in the MC general house meeting on Monday, and would ask mayor Balkar Sandhu to take action against officials who did not pay attention to the ongoing work.
Meanwhile, MC’s operation and maintenance cell superintending engineer cell Rajinder Singh said, “We are working day and night to fix the problem as soon as possible, but it will take time. The 60-inch as well as 57-inch sewerage lines are damaged during drilling, which caused the road to cave in.” He said NHAI was bearing expenses for the repair work.
Traffic problems
However, the road leading from Ludhiana towards Chandigarh, and Chandigarh to Ludhiana is blocked near Jamalpur Chowk, and traffic has been diverted from Jamalpur Chowk to inside sectors 38 and 39 towards Chandigarh Road again. It is causing inconvenience in the internal roads of the localities. Jamalpur resident Dr Gagandeep Singh said, “It has become really difficult to pass through Chandigarh Road at the moment because of traffic diversion from inside residential areas.” He said they were unaware when the damage would be rectified.
Due to damage to the sewerage line, water was not moving beyond Jamalpur Chowk, while the water coming from dyeing units in Focal Point had covered Chandigarh Road. Sources revealed that civic officials could not make dyeing units stop throwing water until the repair work was done. “Erring MC officials are responsible for this incident,” said Congress MLA Sanjay Talwar.
On the other hand, Talwar held MC officials responsible for the incident, saying it was in the knowledge of civic officials that work was going on at the site, and even councillor Bhatia had informed them about the digging of the road, but even then they did not act. He said, “There are so many schools on this road, and in case a tragedy had taken place, who would have taken the responsibility?”
Since then, civic officials are trying to rectify the fault. Almost 30-40 feet portion of the road from Ludhiana to Chandigarh has been dug up by civic officials, because the old sewerage line has got damaged. Traffic is blocked on both sides, and is being diverted from inside the adjoining localities. This road is used by commuters moving to and from Ludhiana to Chandigarh, and there are so many residential colonies beside it.
MC officials claimed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was doing the four-laning of this road, and in the ongoing process of undergrounding the electricity cables, the sewerage line passing under the road got damaged, and the road caved in. On Saturday night as well as Sunday throughout the day, the repair work continued on the road. But since it is the main sewerage line, sewage water from all localities passes through this point, so it is affecting the pace of repair work. Consequently, even in adjoining localities, overflowing sewerage has created problems for residents.
Congress councillor Vineet Bhatia said, “The work is going on, but there is excess water there, because the public has not stopped using water for their daily chores.” He said it all happened due to lack of coordination between MC and NHAI officials, despite the fact that he had asked NHAI employees not to dig up the road for undergrounding the cables without MC’s consent, but his plea went unheard.
He said now sewerage was overflowing in sectors 38, 39, and adjoining areas. He claimed he would take up this issue in the MC general house meeting on Monday, and would ask mayor Balkar Sandhu to take action against officials who did not pay attention to the ongoing work.
Meanwhile, MC’s operation and maintenance cell superintending engineer cell Rajinder Singh said, “We are working day and night to fix the problem as soon as possible, but it will take time. The 60-inch as well as 57-inch sewerage lines are damaged during drilling, which caused the road to cave in.” He said NHAI was bearing expenses for the repair work.
Traffic problems
However, the road leading from Ludhiana towards Chandigarh, and Chandigarh to Ludhiana is blocked near Jamalpur Chowk, and traffic has been diverted from Jamalpur Chowk to inside sectors 38 and 39 towards Chandigarh Road again. It is causing inconvenience in the internal roads of the localities. Jamalpur resident Dr Gagandeep Singh said, “It has become really difficult to pass through Chandigarh Road at the moment because of traffic diversion from inside residential areas.” He said they were unaware when the damage would be rectified.
Due to damage to the sewerage line, water was not moving beyond Jamalpur Chowk, while the water coming from dyeing units in Focal Point had covered Chandigarh Road. Sources revealed that civic officials could not make dyeing units stop throwing water until the repair work was done. “Erring MC officials are responsible for this incident,” said Congress MLA Sanjay Talwar.
On the other hand, Talwar held MC officials responsible for the incident, saying it was in the knowledge of civic officials that work was going on at the site, and even councillor Bhatia had informed them about the digging of the road, but even then they did not act. He said, “There are so many schools on this road, and in case a tragedy had taken place, who would have taken the responsibility?”
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