E-Paper
Second road collapse in three days: Road cave-in at Ludhiana’s Chaura Bazar
Locals claim authorities failed to pay heed to the leakage of a water or sewer pipe in Ludhiana’s Chaura Bazar — which in turn led to a large portion of the road caving in
In a worrying trend for city residents and commuters, another road cave-in incident was on Wednesday reported in Chaura Bazar a mere two days after a major road portion collapsed near the Shastri Nagar railway crossing.
Locals claimed that the area near Khushi Ram and Sons had seen leakage of a water pipe for the last several days, alleging that the authorities failed to pay heed to the problem — which in turn led to a large portion of the road caving in.
Over three feet wide and five to six deep, the pit emerged on the spot on Wednesday. No injury or casualty was reported and the municipal corporation jumped into action after residents raised an alarm.
Officials said that soil underneath the road may have eroded due to leakage in water or sewer lines, leading to the cave-in.
Ramesh Sharma, an area resident, said it was high time that the authorities move past a lackadaisical approach when it comes to road cave-in incidents, adding, “The pit would not have been created if the authorities had repaired the lines when the leakage started a few days back. As it is a crowded market, an accident could have taken place, but fortunately no one got injured.”
Councillor Anil Parti, meanwhile, said barricading had been done at the site after the incident was brought to his knowledge before reiterating that the incident took place due to a possible leakage in water-sewer lines.
The repair work on the road is expected to be undertaken during the night hours, given the high football of the area.
A worrying trend
Road cave-in incidents have been haunting the residents in the industrial hub of the state especially during the rainy season. With decade-old sewer lines laid in different parts of the city, major road cave-in incidents have been reported in Dugri, Model Town Extension, Kaka Marriage palace road, Deep Nagar among others
In October last year, two students and a woman had a narrow escape after a major portion of the Deep Nagar main road caved in. The students plunged into the crater as they were riding a two wheeler.
The implementation of a plan to replace the decade-old sewer lines, meanwhile, has failed to see the light of day.
