Gridlocks dampening festive spirit in Ludhiana

The ongoing work of the national highway on Ferozpur Road has added to the chaos on the roads

Heavy traffic jams have dampened the festive spirit in the city. Gridlocks can be seen at main and inner market roads at all times of the day now, leaving residents a harried lot.

Heavy traffic jam at the Bahadur House Market in Ludhiana on Wednesday. (Gurpreet SIngh/HT)

At places like Jagraon Bridge, Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road, Pakhowal Road, Link Road near bus stand, Gill Road and Southern Bypass, serpentine queues have become a common sight.

The ongoing work of the national highway on Ferozpur Road has only added to the chaos. Also, due to a number of vendors setting up stalls on the roads in front of shops, the congestion has only increased.

At many places, the Ludhiana traffic police have abjectly failed to take stock of the situation. They are seen struggling to manage the burgeoning traffic with no concrete plan in place.

Madhur Mahindra, public relation officer of Canaught Place Market Association, Ghumar Mandi, said: “As festival season is on, the number of vehicles and visitors have increased. Police are towing away wrongly parked vehicles, but no efforts are being made to streamline the flow of traffic.”

Jaspreet Singh, a resident of Sham Nagar, said city roads have become congested due to construction of the flyover.

“The government should speed up ongoing construction work of flyovers in the city. It takes one hour to travel from Cheema Chowk to Samrala Chowk by car now due to traffic jams,” he said.

Assistant commissioner of police (ACP, traffic), Gurdev Singh, said 28 teams have been formed at police-station level who take rounds of the city.