Renovated at Rs 98 lakh, skating rink develops cracks again

Ludhiana: Renovated at a cost of Rs 98 lakh recently, the skating rink in Sarabha Nagar has developed big cracks again, making youngsters who come for practice daily prone to accidents and injuries.
While residents rued poor material used in the track construction, officials claimed that work will be done again as they have not cleared the payment to the contractor yet.
Sources said officials blamed a nearby railway line for cracks at the track. This issue was taken up in a meeting recently where officials justified the same. The track was renovated in 2022. But when track started developing cracks, even the officials kept mum over the same.
Requesting anonymity, an official claimed if engineers blame train movement behind these cracks, then the entire area is at risk and people who are living nearby should be shifted somewhere else as their houses can also develop cracks. He said there is a need to take action against the erring officials who did not pay attention towards quality of material. He claimed at the time of renovation, the officials concerned claimed to have built the best track.
MC executive engineer Balwinder Singh said repair work will be done. As they had come to know about cracks, they stopped the payment to the contractor, he added.
A woman said, "My both kids come to the skating rink for practice and the track has developed cracks so early after renovation. The authorities should repair it as early as possible."