E-Paper
Ludhiana cave-in: Efforts on to detect reason behind leakage, says MC
Having no equipment to detect the underground leakage, Ludhiana MC officials said the exact reason behind the cave-in is still uncertain
A day after a road in Deep Nagar caved in, Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) officials suspected that the leakage in pipes could have been persisting for at least six months due to which soil erosion took place and a major portion below the road became hollow.
Having no equipment to detect the underground leakage, the MC officials said the exact reason behind the incident is still uncertain and efforts were being made to know the cause. It is also suspected that the sewer lines got damaged due to laying of underground wires, resulting in leakage.
The MC officials said the repair work will be carried out during the night hours too, but it will take around a week to repair the damaged portion.
MC subdivisional officer Anshul Garcha said the reason behind the incident is unknown as of now, but the department is working on it.
“The leakage is suspected to be going on for at least six months as a major portion of road had become hollow. The repair works will take around a week as the damage is huge. The MC will also check additional length of the damaged sewer line on both sides of the road to detect any other leakage. Senior officials have been apprised of the situation and efforts are being made to expedite the repair works,” he added.
Two siblings and a woman had a narrow escape after a major road portion of Deep Nagar main road near Dandi Swami chowk had caved in on Thursday morning around 8am and the trio fell into about 15ft deep crater. On their way to school, the siblings were on a two-wheeler, while the woman was crossing the lane.
A video of the incident was also widely circulated, sending shockwaves across the city. While the students were rescued by passersby, the two-wheeler that sank in the accumulated sewage was pulled out seven hours after the incident. Residents had slammed the MC officials for allegedly showing lackadaisical behaviour.
They rued that the same portion had caved in around six months ago as well when the civic body was reconstructing the road. But rather than checking any leakage, the contractor rebuilt the road, they claimed.
MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal had issued show-cause notices to three officials, including executive engineer, SDO and junior engineer, over the negligence.
Decades’ old sewer line also damaged
Garcha said the decades’ old brick sewer lines moving around 20ft below the road portion also got damaged due to the cave-in. “The sewer lines have been blocked in the area and the sewage flow is being diverted for repairing the damaged parts. Super-suction machines have been deployed at the spot for clearing the site of accumulated sewage,” he added.
RTI activist files complaint with human rights body
Citing the recent road cave-ins, including the one that took place in Deep Nagar, RTI activist Arvind Sharma has filed a complaint against MC officials with the Punjab State Human Rights Commission on Friday for “posing grave danger to the lives of commuters”.
Accusing the MC officials of adopting careless behaviour towards the rising cave-in incidents, Sharma said that a father-son duo also had a narrow escape after their car got stuck and overturned as a portion of road caved in in Haibowal area on October 24.
Such incidents have also been reported in different parts of the city, including Model Town Extension, Dugri, and Kaka Marriage Palace road, but no concrete steps were taken by the civic body, he added.