E-Paper
Shortcuts on road dividers in Ludhiana causing chaos, accidents
The divider blocks at the underpass are at a turn, which makes it impossible for drivers to catch the peeping bikers, a problem only increased by broken drain grills
Temporary dividers visible at various spots in the city were originally placed to increase road safety. However, they have now come undone and many commuters can be seen peeping through them onto busy roads, including the Dugri flyover and the Railway underbridge near Phullanwal Chowk, inviting accidents.
The divider blocks at the underpass are at a turn, which makes it impossible for drivers to catch the peeping bikers, a problem only increased by broken drain grills.
“While cars can better control when braking suddenly if a biker shows up on the turn, it’s very hard for us three-wheeler drivers to safely fare through such a scene,” said Ravinder Kumar, who plies an auto-rickshaw on the Pakhowal Road.
Suraj Mongia, a resident of the south city area, drives through the flyover in Dugri regularly. He said almost every other day some biker would creep in through the divider blocks separating the flyover from the service lane.
“The stretch at that point is quite narrow and it frankly is very hard to avert an accident if you are driving fast. There just won’t be enough room to manoeuvre through,” he complained.
The steel grill supposed to cover the drain in the underpass near the Pakhowal bridge, which isn’t only mostly damaged but has even come off in a few spots, was only installed over a year ago. The condition now has commuters wondering if there was any quality check.
Municipal corporation superintendent engineer Sanjay Kanwal, when asked about the dangerous dividers, said, “The civic body has taken cognisance of the situation and will have it fixed soon.”
