Repair of caved-in road begins

Kritika Kanwar

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 23

A day after The Tribune highlighted the spot outside the PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh, where the road had caved in due to heavy rains, the GMADA authorities initiated the repair work of the stretch today.

The road near Togan village was ravaged due to heavy rains in New Chandigarh last week. The seasonal choe near the new PCA Stadium rose to its brim, breaching the bridge, hence, posing hazard to the nearby villages. A bulldozer was seen levelling up the road this evening.

Mohali DC Girish Dayalan said: “The plugging of roads as well as breaches on the eight-km stretch is underway. Bushes that got stuck near the bridge, which led to the breach, will also be removed. The estimates for that will be prepared by GMADA.”

A senior official of GMADA said directions have been issued to expedite the construction of three bridges on the road connecting Dadu Majra to New Chandigarh, the formalities for which have been completed.

However, the 38.2-acre stadium, which will be ready by January 2020 and is supposed to host international and Ranji Trophy matches, still does not have any functional road. The narrow Dadu Majra link road connecting the stadium to Chandigarh is in a dilapidated state, which is aggravating due to the heavy flow of vehicles going to Kurali to avoid traffic near the Kharar flyover. The construction work of the four-laned Togan Road, which will connect New Chandigarh to Chandigarh via Dhanas, has not been expedited by the UT, though GMADA has already constructed the portion of road falling under its area.