Full of potholes, Ludhiana roads await repair, blacktopping

The prolonged delay has turned daily commutes into a harrowing experience, leaving locals stranded with broken stretches

Residents of Dugri are grappling with damaged and potholed roads for nearly nine months following an excavation work to lay pipelines for the 24/7 canal water supply project.

Commuters facing problem while driving due to damaged road in Dugri area due to pipe laying in Ludhiana. (Gurpreet Singh/Hindustan Times)

The prolonged delay has turned daily commutes into a harrowing experience, leaving locals stranded with broken stretches stretching from Green Land Convent School to Bal Bharti Public School in Phase 2, as well as in front of Durga Mata Mandir in Phase 1.

Sub division officer (SDO) of the operations and maintenance cell, Jaideep Singh, acknowledged the persistent delays, attributing them to technical requirements and weather conditions.

“It took us time to complete hydro testing in these sections to check for leakages in the newly laid pipes,” Singh added.

He further said the intervening rainy season prevented officials from conducting compaction tests, which are mandatory to ensure that the soil is sufficiently dense and capable of bearing vehicular load before blacktopping can begin.

Assuring that remedial measures are underway, Singh stated that the roads in Dugri will eventually be repaired. However, he said the process may take some time because numerous other roads across the city, which were similarly dug up for pipeline installations, are also queued up for resurfacing.

“It has been nine months now that we have had to put up with these broken roads. The traffic slows down and two-wheelers frequently slip, causing accidents,” said Jaswinder Singh Shammi, a resident of Dugri Phase 2, adding that numerous four-wheelers got stuck in mud after heavy rain during the monsoon season.

Residents are concerned that if repairs are not expedited, the deteriorating road conditions will aggravate accident risks with the onset of winter, when the region experiences spells of dense fog.

Mayor Inderjit Kaur had convened a high-level meeting with civic officials on September 13, directing them to fast-track the blacktopping process on all roads excavated for pipeline laying under the canal water supply initiative.