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Potholes turn deadly as Ludhiana MC fails to act; residents seek compensation for injured
The area residents rued that they have been complaining about the pothole situation for around three months but the civic body had failed to take any action
With municipal corporation (MC) turning a blind eye towards the issue, the potholed roads have turned into a nightmare for the residents as they are leading to accidents regularly.
The apathy of MC had landed a girl in the ICU recently. A girl suffered a head injury after she lost balance while riding a two-wheeler on the Model Town - Jawaddi road on November 9.
Raising hue and cry over the issue, the area residents rued that they have been complaining about the pothole situation for around three months but the civic body had failed to take any action. The residents also sought compensation for the injured as it was the responsibility of MC to get the roads repaired.
A resident of Model Town area and social activist Jaskirat Singh, who had come to the rescue of the girl, said, “I have been complaining about the pothole situation to the MC officials since August. Even after the girl suffered a serious injury to her head on November 9, the MC officials filled the pothole with sand and rubble rather than repairing it properly.”
“The sand went off due to heavy rainfall on Sunday evening and, another accident took place on the same spot-on Monday. A person riding a two-wheeler lost balance and fell. It was fortunate that he did not suffer any serious injury,” he added.
“As the officials and the area councillor failed to respond, I took up the issue on social media on Monday, which
woke the officials from their deep slumber and, they reached the spot. Even now,
the pothole has not been repaired with hot mix material. Sand has been poured on the area by placing interlocking tiles. The MC should give compensation to those suffering injuries due to their apathy,” said Singh.
Deep potholes can also be seen on different roads of the city including, Haibowal, Dugri, Civil Lines, Ferozepur road, Model Town extension, Field Ganj, Brown road, Focal Point, and Dhandari.
Baljeet Singh, a resident of Dugri, said, “Even if the civic body gets the repair work done, it does not stand for more than a week. The MC should keep a check on the quality of the material and should announce compensation for the injured. The civic body had also repaired the main Dugri road after a lot of accidents took place there and, the shopkeepers staged a protest against the civic body.”
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “The repair work has been going on in the city for over a month and, major roads have been repaired. The work might have been hit due to the rainfall witnessed in the city on Sunday. I will direct the staff to immediately repair the main roads so that no accident takes place.”
Despite attempts made to reach MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal, he was not available for comments.
