Ludhiana: Amid the ongoing winter, when smog has started hitting the outer areas of the city in early morning hours, the Ludhiana traffic police will have to give attention towards road safety to avert accidents. A few days back the traffic cops had distributed pamphlets among the commuters at Bharat Nagar chowk, sharing tips for driving in foggy weather.
There are several spots in Ludhiana, where the authorities have kept concrete blocks either for diversions or to narrow the lane for streamlining traffic flow. However, the authorities have not pasted any reflector tapes on it to avert any mishap in the night. Besides, the problem of vehicles parked on the road side is also being ignored.
Near Chand Cinema, when commuters move from Jalandhar bypass towards Jagraon bridge, some concrete blocks have been kept in the middle of the road, so that only one or two vehicles could cross by at one point of time. Further, at Basti Jodhewal chowk, in the service lane, concrete blocks have been kept on both sides. Similarly, after crossing Gill bridge of Sidhwan canal, when commuters move towards Gill village, some concrete blocks are kept there too to restrict commuters from taking a U-turn.
However, on all these blocks, no reflector tape is pasted for commuters to make them aware about their presence while driving during the night.
A resident of Gill village, Mangal Singh, said, “Since last year, these concrete blocks have been kept near Gill bridge on the canal without any reflector tape or paint on them. The Ludhiana-Malerkotla road usually gets heavy traffic flow. Any day an accident may occur here. The authorities should either install reflectors or reflecting paint on the blocks or should replace it with traffic cones for the safety of commuters.”
Another city resident of Shekhewal road Paras Gulati said, “The blocks kept near Chand cinema are there for managing the traffic flow. But these too are unsafe. If somebody mistakenly or accidently loses balance while driving a vehicle and crashes into these blocks, he would certainly get more injuries because of the concrete blocks. I don’t think there is a need to paste reflectors on these blocks, but I think these blocks should immediately be removed from the roads.”
Besides, the problem of stationary vehicles on the road is also becoming a big traffic hazard, especially on national highways. Every year several accidents occur due to vehicles parked on the road without any reflectors or blinkers. Vehicles can be seen parked on the Ludhiana- Chandigarh highway and Ludhiana Delhi highway as well, despite the ban order issued by the commissioner of police Rakesh Agarwal.