Nearly two weeks after a 27-year-old factory worker was killed on July 14 after his motorcycle skidded into a rainwater-filled pothole in the Phase 8 Industrial Area, crumbling roads continue to endanger commuters across Mohali. While a recent HT survey identified 167 potholes on the Airport Road, residents say the problem extends far beyond the city’s busiest arterial corridor, with damaged roads dotting several residential sectors, industrial areas and villages under the Municipal Corporation’s (MC) jurisdiction.
Apart from the Airport Road, major stretches in Phases 2, 3B2, 7, 8, the Industrial Area and village roads within the expanded MC limits are riddled with potholes and uneven surfaces. During the monsoon, many of these potholes remain submerged, making it difficult for motorists, particularly two-wheeler riders, to judge their depth. Residents say the condition has worsened despite civic agencies having nearly three months before the onset of the monsoon to undertake preventive road maintenance.
Officials maintain that responsibility for Mohali’s roads is divided between different agencies. The MC clarified that Airport Road (PR-7), PR-8, the Sector 78/79 dividing road, Sector 79/80 dividing road, the road from Kurali Chowk to the railway station, and the Golf Club road fall under the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The corporation is responsible for maintaining internal sector roads and village roads that have been brought under its jurisdiction following the city’s expansion.
Explaining the delay in repairing Airport Road, GMADA’s engineering wing said the corridor has been divided into three phases — Phase 1 from Chhat village to Sector 82/66B, Phase 2 from Sector 82 to Sectors 73/74, and Phase 3 from Sectors 73/74 to Gopal Sweets in Sector 125. Officials said recarpeting of Phase 2 has been delayed because three roundabouts are under construction along the stretch.
{{/usCountry}}Explaining the delay in repairing Airport Road, GMADA’s engineering wing said the corridor has been divided into three phases — Phase 1 from Chhat village to Sector 82/66B, Phase 2 from Sector 82 to Sectors 73/74, and Phase 3 from Sectors 73/74 to Gopal Sweets in Sector 125. Officials said recarpeting of Phase 2 has been delayed because three roundabouts are under construction along the stretch.
{{/usCountry}}GMADA has prepared a ₹35-crore estimate for recarpeting an 8.8-km stretch of the Phase 2 corridor. The tender is expected to be floated shortly, with work likely to commence in August once the roundabout construction nears completion. The cancellation process of a ₹912-crore road maintenance tender delayed the recarpeting programme across several roads, officials said.
GMADA chief administrator Sandeep Rishi, who assumed office recently, said, “I have been apprised by the chief engineer about the pothole situation. While recarpeting through the tender process will take time, I will utilise emergency funds of up to ₹5 lakh to immediately fill identified potholes in accordance with GMADA’s procurement rules.”
The MC, meanwhile, said it has been carrying out temporary repairs on roads using wet mix. MC commissioner Sundeep Singh Garha said, “Potholes are being repaired regularly with wet mix. Once the rainy season is over, these roads will be recarpeted with bitumen. The stretch where the factory worker died had already been repaired with wet mix and barricaded when the incident occurred. The inquiry into the incident is still under underway,” Garha said.
MC officials said work order for recarpeting internal roads was issued in June. However, the progress has been affected by intermittent rainfall, shortage of bitumen and ongoing sewer-laying works by the department of water supply and sanitation in several localities.
Residents, however, say the explanations have become routine. Shweta Yadav, a resident of Phase 7, said potholes repaired every year reappear with the first spell of rain.
“The death of the factory worker should have been a wake-up call. Temporary patchwork is not enough. Agencies must ensure durable repairs before every monsoon,” she said.