Residents oppose ‘hasty’ road carpeting

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, December 17

Residents of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Colony, developed by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) on Pakhowal Road here, have charged the LIT authorities with hasty carpeting of roads in adverse weather conditions as also colluding with the contractor who was reported to have used sub-standard material for carpeting work.

In a complaint lodged with the Principal Secretary, Local Government, with a copy to the Director, Local Bodies, the residents have said the main road along ‘now abandoned’ city centre project site was carpeted in a hasty manner by the contractor on December 14 and 15 even though the low temperature was not conducive for laying pre-mix.

“On the face of it, the material used for carpeting also seems to be substandard and workmanship poor because raw patches on the carpeted stretch of road are visible,” said the complainant, Arvind Sharma.

Sharma and other residents said the LIT officials and field staff were either in collusion with the contractor or negligent to have allowed the carpeting of the road in such weather conditions when hot mix plants had been shut down and the Municipal Corporation had even discontinued patchwork on the roads.

“It seems the contractor wants to finish the job hurriedly and secure payment for the work while the LIT officials are directly or indirectly helping him in this dubious activity,” said the residents, adding that it was common knowledge that roads constructed or carpeted in extremely cold weather were not long-lasting and the top coat (of bitumen) wore off after a short while, particularly if there was rain which could not be ruled out in this case.

The residents said the officials of the engineering department of LIT, being on election duty, did not give any satisfactory reply for such hasty carpeting of road. They demanded an inquiry and also a quality test of the material used in the carpeting of the road.

The LIT officials said they were looking into the matter and necessary action would be taken against the contractor if he had violated the conditions and specifications laid down in the work order.