Despite tall claims made by the Ludhiana civic body regarding development and cleanliness drives, the area touted as the largest Transport Nagar of Punjab lies in a state of despair with deep potholes, waterlogged roads, garbage strewn across lanes and choked sewer lines. With the advent of monsoon, the transporters are set to bear the brunt for civic body’s apathy this year too.
Spread across 114 acres, Transport Nagar caters to 1,200 transporters who run their business in the area where over 1,000 trucks move in and out on daily basis. Frequent breakdowns are reported due to poor condition of roads, which have not been rebuilt for over a decade, say transporters.
They add that the sector is already reeling under losses due to the pandemic and the filthy conditions coupled with serious waterlogging witnessed in the area are not only taking a toll on their business, but also on their health.
Press secretary of Ludhiana Goods Transport Association, Jagdish Jassowal, said, “Roads here have not been repaired for the last at least 12 years and accidents take place often due to deep potholes. Frequent breakdowns are also reported, especially after waterlogging when potholes are not visible to the truckers. Sometimes, a breakdown costs around ₹5,000 to a transporter and it becomes difficult to meet these additional expenses during the pandemic, when many of the transporters are struggling to make ends meet. Last week too, we faced major inconvenience after rain.”
“Many of the carts and rickshaws tend to overturn on uneven paths, due to which goods get damaged. Many of us refrain from bringing our private cars here fearing potholes,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Many of the carts and rickshaws tend to overturn on uneven paths, due to which goods get damaged. Many of us refrain from bringing our private cars here fearing potholes,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}A transporter, Sarabjit Singh, said, “Transport Nagar is a low-lying area and failure of authorities to clean the sewer lines and an internal drain (nullah) passing through the locality results in waterlogging. Sewer lines have been clogged for years, but no one is paying heed to the problem. Accumulated rainwater from adjoining areas like Industrial Area-A also flows into Transport Nagar. Silt and garbage can be seen spread at every nook and corner of the area, due to which foul smell also gets emancipated in the vicinity.”
Encroachments irks transporters
A large number of encroachments in the form of kiosks and dhabas also irk the transporters as they face shortage of space to park trucks. They rue that sewer connections of such establishments have been attached to sewer lines illegally, resulting in blockage.
Transporters say that the authorities had been working on the plans to shift the Transport Nagar out of the MC limits, but nothing concrete has yet been announced regarding the same.
They claim that they have at multiple instances approached the authorities, including mayor Balkar Sandhu, in the past more than a year, but nothing could save them from suffering due to waterlogging and potholed roads during the monsoon this year.
President of the association, Didar Singh, said, “There is not even a single patch of road without potholes in Transport Nagar. During monsoon, it becomes difficult to reach our offices due to waterlogging. Mayor Balkar Sandhu also visited the area last year and assured that road construction will commence soon, but to no avail. We are forced to work in pitiable conditions and are planning to meet the authorities again.”
Meanwhile, mayor Balkar Sandhu said tenders for different projects worth crores have been approved for development of Transport Nagar as MLA Surinder Dawar had also expressed concern over the same in the past. He is pursuing the case, he added.
MLA Dawar also said that tenders for development projects worth over ₹6 crore have already been floated for construction of roads and other projects.
“A delegation of transporters apprised me of the problems recently, following which I also convened a meeting with the mayor. The work will soon commence at the ground level. Directions have also been issued to officials to clean the sewer lines and accumulated silt and garbage in the area.”