Potholed Noorwala road: Ludhiana NGO accuses PWD officials of apathy

Irked by the potholed Noorwala road and PWD department’s apathy in dealing with the issue, members of Samaj Sudhar Sabha NGO submitted a complaint with the CM’s office for the second time in last three months

Residents living in the vicinity of the Noorwala Road are a harried lot as the stretch has been pothole-ridden for around three years. They approached the chief minister’s office for the second time in the last three months over the alleged apathy of the public works department (PWD) in dealing with the issue.

Accusing the PWD officials of adopting corrupt practices, the member of the NGO stated that the department also claims to have conducted repair works in 2020, even when nothing was done to improve the condition at ground level. (HT Photo)

The members of Samaj Sudhar Sabha NGO accused the officials of the PWD department of wasting the public money and ill-planned development of the stretch of around 4 km (outside the MC limits).

The residents rued that the road portion which was constructed in 2017, was again left dotted with potholes by the end of 2018 due to the inferior quality of material used. They stated that the tender estimate in 2014-15 was ₹2.04 crore, but it was slashed to ₹1.32 crore and finally, the work was allotted for ₹80 lakh.

The residents alleged that work quality was compromised due to reduced project costs. They rued that the road also gets waterlogged as a drainage system was not put in place then. They stated that the residents and commuters face a harrowing time during the monsoons and road accidents also take place due to the deep potholes. Repeated complaints have been with the department to no avail.

NGO members including, vice president Varunesh Kumra, Hardeep Singh, Pankaj Maheshwari, among others, stated that the project was also ill-planned as the width of the road within MC limits is around 22 feet but it was constructed at a width of 12 feet.

Accusing the PWD officials of adopting corrupt practices, the member of the NGO stated that the department also claims to have conducted repair works in 2020, even when nothing was done to improve the condition at ground level.

Kumra stated that the department had, in an RTI reply, admitted that repair works were taken up in 2020, but when the details were sought, it failed to give a proper reply. Therefore, the NGO has filed a second appeal in the state information commission case.

He said, “The first complaint was submitted with the CM’s office in August. The office had directed the department to resolve the grievance and send an action taken report. But no action was taken by the department. Now, we have submitted another complaint on Tuesday. A copy of the complaint has also been marked to deputy commissioner Varinder Sharma.”

PWD executive engineer Adesh Gupta said that the road portion got damaged due to water accumulation as the MC has failed to establish a proper drainage system there. A detailed project report has been sent to the state department for the reconstruction of the road. The project will be initiated soon after getting approval from the state department.