Bear with bumpy rides for some more time: Civic officials

Ludhiana: City residents will have to travel on potholed roads for some more time because the civic body will not start work on its bitumen plant this week, as stated by mayor Balkar Sandhu recently. Officials said they would start the plant only after they were absolutely sure that there would be no more rain.
Last week, Mayor Sandhu said if everything went according to plan, they would start repair work from September 15. Officials said they tried to fill the potholes with tiles and other material but it did not hold as roads were damaged due to rain and waterlogging. However, they said patch work done before the rainy season sustained for a long time and now roads were damaged in new areas.
Superintending engineer of bridges and road department Parveen Singla said, “We will be able to start road repair work most probably by next Monday. Though rainfall has stopped and it did not rain from almost 15 days, but they want to be completely sure that rainy season is over. If they started patch work and repair of roads now, another spell of rain will render the work futile.” He said major roads would be repaired first, followed by internal streets so that patch work could be finished before the onset of winter.
Under the circumstances, residents have no choice but to wait. Ashok Parmar, a resident of Chander Nagar complained, “Here in the area, a few roads are in such a condition that nobody can say a road was constructed at this place because now only potholes are left.” He underlined the need to do something to strengthen the roads.
Another resident from Jassian Road, Krishan Gopal Dutt said, “The problem of roads is not only because of the material but also because of poor drainage system. The civic body has failed to solve the problem of waterlogging and when rainwater gathers at one place for a few hours, the road will be damaged.” He said civic authorities should consider this factor and resolve both issues.