Labour shortage hits Clock Tower uplift project

Ludhiana: Labour shortage has hit the beautification project of one of the oldest monuments, Clock Tower, as work could not be started at the site. The Smart City project was supposed to be completed in March but due to lockdown it could not be started. Now, when lockdowd is there but with relaxations, the contractor hired for its beautification is struggling to arrange the labour. The officials, however, claimed that in this month work was likely to begin at the site.
Under this facelift project it was decided to add the effect of lights to the monument so that people passing from near the Clock Tower would enjoy the colorful lights. After the Clock Tower beautification project, flyovers of southern bypass would be also be given facelift.
The chief executive officer of Ludhiana Smart City Limited-cum-additional commissioner of MC Sanyam Aggarwal said, “Earlier, due to lockdown and now due to shortage of labour the work could not start at the site. This project will not take much time as almost in one month the monument will be beautified.” He said it was expected that work would be started after a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, a resident of Shivpuri, Krishan Sharma, said, “The lighting is fine but there is need to beautify the surroundings as well and for that encroachments should be removed.” He said the officials should correct the timing in the clock as well because it remained non-functional most of the time.
Another resident from Rahon Road, Rajiv Duggal, said not only Clock Tower but also other monuments should be taken care of properly. He said the residents should also help authorities in maintaining the beauty of these monuments.
box: Labour shortage hits other projects
With exodus of labourers from the city, a few other projects have also been hit. The officials claimed that there is a shortage of labourers due to which the pace of ongoing works has slowed down but work has not stopped. They claimed that in coming days the situation would improve when migrant workers would return.