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Ludhiana: Gill road reconstruction stuck over payment, leakage
Blacktopping work began from Janata Chowk side but halted midway over 2 weeks ago, say residents; MC official says the contractor stopped the work for want of payment and leakage issue was also there; the work will begin in a day, he assures
: The road construction work on Gill Road from Janata Chowk to ATI College has been shut for a week now, delaying completion. Local residents said the MC had stripped the road over 20 days ago and the slow pace of work is affecting their daily life and even business.
“They removed the old road more than two weeks ago. Then they started blacktopping from the Janata Chowk side. But after a week of work, the blacktopping stopped. This not only creates problems for commuting but also affects business. When the road was open, customer footfall was very good, but ever since they started this reconstruction work, only local customers are coming to our shop,” said Gurpreet Singh, who runs a sweet shop around 100 metres from ATI College.
While the road is shut, two-wheelers manage to pass through the sides. However, due to construction work, there is a lot of rubble lying along the sides. Singh said that this also leads to regular accidents involving two-wheelers. “There is so much sand and pebbles. Scooters and bikes keep slipping as they try to make their way through,” he said.
Social activist Kuldeep Singh Khaira said, “This is harassment of the public. If you have started the work, then you should finish it as fast as possible. Delays only cause inconvenience to people. This shows a lack of seriousness on the part of the corporation.”
Superintending engineer (B&R), MC, Sham Gupta, said that there were a couple of issues holding up the work. There was an issue with pending payment, due to which the contractor had stopped work. There were also a few pipe leaks that had to be fixed before the work resumed.
“We have talked to the contractor, and the leakages have been sorted. The work shall start again by tomorrow,” he said.
Deputy mayor inspects work
Deputy mayor Prince Johar inspected the ongoing project to reconstruct Gill road and issued necessary directions to expedite the work. Johar said the shopkeepers alongside the road had raised a few concerns regarding the project, following which the inspection was conducted.
Johar stated that as per civic body officials there were some leakages in water supply lines which have been repaired and the work to reconstruct the road will continue at fast pace from Monday onwards.
