Ludhiana: Activist dons ‘patched-up’ kurta in protest over state of city roads
Protesting on the Jagraon Bridge, Kumar Gaurav said that it has been three years since the Aam Aadmi Party formed government in the state and most of the roads in the city are in a dilapidated state
A city-based activist on Friday took a novel route to protest the state of roads, taking to the streets after wearing a ‘patched up’ black kurta.
Kumar Gaurav, who runs a non-profit, donned a kurta that was patched at multiple places with colourful clothes, drawing parallels to the ‘patched up’ city roads.
Protesting on the Jagraon Bridge, he said, “It has been three years since the Aam Aadmi Party formed government in the state, most of the roads in the city are in a dilapidated state. After three years, all we got is patching up roads,” he questioned.
Gaurav pointed out the recent death of an advocate in an accident on the flyover in front of the railway station. “His scooter hit a pothole in front of the Chand Cinema last week. He lost his balance and his life,” he said.
Citing news reports, Gaurav said there were 483 road accidents in the city in 2024, snuffing out 376 lives and injuring 199 others.
He said the public were paying road taxes and when anyone violated traffic rules, they were fined. He, however, questioned who was to be held accountable in case of accidents caused by the ‘fault of authorities concerned who fail to fix the roads’.
Gaurav highlighted that the repair/patching approach will not work as the damage at some spots was extremely severe.
“At some roads, which are 5 to 6 km long, there are sections over a km long with severe damage. There are potholes every step of the way. How can you patch such roads. Doesn’t it make more sense to just re-lay the road,” he said.
Sr deputy mayor inspects repair work
Senior deputy mayor Rakesh Parashar took stock of repair works across the city, officials said, adding that inspections were conducted in Ganj Field, Jagraon bridge and Lakkar Bazar, among other areas.
Parashar said that the municipal corporation (MC) staff were directed to speed up the repair work.
He said the state government is committed to overall development and several road reconstruction projects are also being carried out in the city.
