3 years on, broken Jawaddi Bridge stretch not repaired

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 11

Over three years on, but the authorities seemed to be in a deep slumber as the broken expansion joints and the road portion of the Canal Bridge, Jawaddi, have not been repaired.

The Irrigation Department and the Municipal Corporation have been passing the bucks over the poor condition of the bridge for a long time but no solution has been found till date. MC officials claimed that the bridge was under the Irrigation Department. However, department officials claimed that the MC was supposed to look after the bridge.

The commuters are facing a lot of inconvenience due to negligence of the department concerned which failed to pay any attention. Iron strips on the bridge are visible and chances of accidents remains high on the bridge. Residents also raised questions over the role of elected representatives for ignoring the issue.

A resident, Sarabjit Singh, said: “I have been witnessing the broken expansion joints for the past over three years. I don’t know who is the authority concerned but thousands of commuters are forced to suffer. When we pay taxes, it is the responsibility of the authorities concerned to take action in this regards.”

Earlier, activists associated with various NGOs had also sought from the government to ensure repair of the expansion joints to avoid mishaps but to no avail. An activist, Gurpal Singh Grewal, blamed the authorities for putting the lives of commuters under threat.

“The matter has been raised multiple times but it is being ignored. The authorities should be held responsible if any mishap occurs,” he said.

MC’s Superintending Engineer Rahul Gagneja said the bridge was not under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation. The Irrigation Department was responsible to ensure repair of the bridge, he said.

Meanwhile, Gursagar Singh Chahal, Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Department, said: “We had earlier got repaired the bridge from the MC. We will take up the matter with the civic body to get the bridge repaired.”

Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu said the bridge was not under the MC.

“I will write to the department concerned to ensure its repair at the earliest”, he said.

MC, Irrigation Dept play blame game

The Canal Bridge is not under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation. The Irrigation Department was responsible to ensure its repair Rahul Gagneja, MC Superintending Engineer

We had earlier got repaired the bridge from the MC. We will take up the matter with the civic body to get it repaired Gursagar Singh Chahal, Executive Engineer, Irrigation Dept

The bridge is not under the MC. I will write to the department concerned to ensure its repair at the earliest Balkar Singh Sandhu, Mayor