Ludhiana road cave-in: MC officials pass the buck; MP Bittu left flustered

Bittu asked police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar to file a case against him, as being an elected representative, he takes responsibility if a civic negligence endangers lives of residents in his constituency

Member of Parliament (MP) from Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu, said that even he is being made to run from pillar to post to find out who is responsible for the road cave-in at Deep Nagar.

MP from Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu, said that even he is being made to run from pillar to post to find out who is responsible for the road cave-in at Deep Nagar, Ludhiana.

Exasperated, Bittu asked police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar to file a case against him, as being an elected representative, he takes responsibility if a civic negligence endangers lives of residents in his constituency.

Bittu, along with local Congress leaders, visited Deep Nagar to inspect the accident site on Saturday. “The road caves-in incident, where two girls were injured, is a serious matter. People are mocking us after the mishap. When I approached the civic body looking for answers, the officials just passed the buck. The responsibility has to be fixed and I have asked the police commissioner to register a case and investigate, so that the culprit is identified,” said Bittu.

Bittu said that he first asked MC commissioner Pradeep Sabharwal, who said that zonal commissioner Neeraj Jain was looking into the matter. “Jain told me that some IAS officer is dealing with the issue. Then, I was made to talk to Raman Kumar of B&R branch, who passed the buck to O&M cell. They further shifted the blame to the contractor, with some Bathinda connection. This is so unfortunate and unfair,” said Bittu, while reiterating that there was no politics involved behind his visit and it was due to the increasing incidents of road cave-ins.

Interestingly, Bittu carried out his visit at the same time when cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, said to be Bittu’s close confidant, was conducting a meeting with civic body officials at the mayor’s camp office.

SAD cries foul over road recarpeting

After questioning the civic body over the issue of frequent road cave-ins in the city, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal from the west constituency raised the issue Rani Jansi Road being recarpeted against violation of norms.

Grewal said that instead of digging the road and then carpeting it, a lair of bitumen is being laid over the existing road, thereby elevating the surface its surface which could pose a problem of waterlogging in residential areas and commercial establishments. He said that roads carpeted in such a manner wither away easily.

Pvt telecom firms also under scanner

While leakage in the sewerage is being suspected to be the primary reason behind the road cave-in at Deep Nagar, the reckless drilling and road cutting by private telecom companies for laying fiber optic cables are also being blamed for the problem.

The issue came to light during a special meeting being convened by cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu with buildings and road department and the health department, at the mayor’s camp office.

Sharing details, Congress councillor Mamta Ashu said during the preliminary investigation, it has come to light that leakage could have occurred due to a damage in the pipeline.

“During inspection, two fibre optical cables were seen running on the sewer line. It is being suspected that the drilling of the road for laying the fibre optic cable may have caused damage to the sewerage line which resulted in a leakage and further led to road cave-in,” said Mamta Ashu.

Cleanliness drive

The department officials were asked to launch a cleanliness drive across the city to clear debris of construction work. The officials said that with changing weather, the construction material kept outside the house was also leading to a rise in pollution levels.

Mamta Ashu said officials have been told to involve residents so that the inner streets are rid of dust and pollution.

The officials were also asked to encourage residents to keep their surroundings clean. “It has been witnessed that during the time of Diwali, residents’ carry out construction work and a few residents let the debris stay outside their house. This chokes the sewer lines,” said the MC official. The officials were further asked to check the quality of roads being laid in respective area the city and increase fogging to bring down the number of dengue cases.