Open house: Should road cave-ins be overlooked or criminal negligence be fixed against those responsible?

Fix responsibility for negligence

Road cave-ins is not new phenomenon especially during the monsoon season in the city. Generally, such incidents happen all of a sudden because during rains soil around underground pipelines is washed away after losing grip. And if it rains continuously, the pressure of water in pipes makes the internal area weak and the surface above it caves-in. The Municipal Corporation should ensure that restoration work of pipelines is done properly in order to avert such incidents. Besides, negligent contractors should be made accountable.

Novin Christopher

Firm, contractor must be punished

Recent incidents of road cave-ins are a matter of serious concern. Such incidents can be fatal as these could cause loss of property and life. General public is paying huge amount of taxes to the Municipal Corporation, which should be used to provide benefits to them. Unfortunately, the authorities concerned give contracts for the development and maintenance of infrastructure to those, who don’t qualify. This results in construction of poor-quality roads. First, officials, who take bribes for giving contracts to wrong contractors must be fined and punished. Secondly, companies or contractors, who don’t provide good-quality infrastructure must be penalised. They must compensate the victim for the loss of property or life due to road cave-in.

Ritu Priya

Initiate fair inquiry to find exact cause

Recent road cave-in at Deep Nagar has again spread panic among residents. Lack of workmanship in the Municipal Corporation is one reason behind such incidents. The civic body should first focus on developing basic infrastructure in the city only then smart city can be developed. It’s duty of the ruling dispensation to ensure roads are safe for commuters. Private telecom firms are responsible for reckless drilling and cutting of roads, which leads to frequent cave-ins. A fair enquiry should be instituted to probe the cause and culprits should be brought to the books.

RV Singh

Authorities least concerned about lives

It’s unfortunate that the authorities are least concerned about human lives. The Municipal Corporation gives contracts to lay sewer or water pipelines to contractors or firms. The company or individual, who is awarded contract, is not bothered about problems faced by commuters. Residents inhale thick dust and may meet with an accident when refilled part of any road caves-in. Such incidents have occurred in the near past. Contractor/firm must be held responsible and their licence must be cancelled. Contracts must be time bound. Contractors/firms must carry out work after diverting traffic or they can start working after midnight. Traffic should be allowed on roads only after completing the re-carpeting/repair work.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui

lackadaisical attitude cannot be tolerated

It’s sad to read such news that a car driver or motorcyclist met with an accident when their vehicle got stuck in a deep pothole. In the Haibowal area a car slipped into a caved-in main road. The contractor, awarded the road maintenance contract, must be held responsible and sent behind bars. Human lives are more important than money. Any negligence on the part of the contractor or official of the local government should not be tolerated. Boards displaying information about broken stretches ahead must be fixed to caution commuters in the city. Civil work must be completed in time so that residents don’t face any problem. Jassian Road and many more stretches are still broken in the city. Residents are facing hardship while commuting on these roads. The authorities concerned are overlooking these problems and not bothered about safety of citizens. A committee should be formed to report delay in repair of roads in every area of the city to the government or the ministry concerned.

Farzana Khan

Four incidents of cave-ins at Deep Nagar

Heavy rainfall causes road cave-ins in the city. Sometimes these occur due to leakage in underground water pipelines. Reckless drilling and road cutting by private telecom companies for laying fibre optical cables also damages sewer and water pipelines, which results in leakage further leading to road cave-in. Criminal proceedings should be initiated against telecom companies. With four incidents of cave-ins in the Deep Nagar area during the last two years, panic has spread among residents. Besides taking criminal action against erring officials, sewer and water pipelines in the entire city should be checked so that no such incident is reported in future. Repair of storm water pipelines should be initiated without further delay. IIT Roorkee is reported to have some technique to scan roads to identify underground portions vulnerable to cave-ins. The civic body should explore possibility of its implementation in the city.

RS Sembhi

Durable material not used for repairs

Many accidents take place due to cave-ins on roads in the city. Most potholes emerge overnight due to heavy rains. Accumulated water makes it impossible for commuters to locate potholes/cave-ins on roads. This increases chances of road accidents. Not so durable material is used to fill potholes/cave-ins. As there is dire need initiate criminal proceedings against the department concerned in case of accidents due to potholes/cave-ins in which precious lives are lost.

Adish Sood, Amloh

Check condition of roads before rain

Many accidents are reported resulting in injuries and deaths of commuters due to road cave-ins. The Municipal Corporation must check the condition of roads in the city especially before the rainy season and ensure that there are no cave-ins on any stretch. There must be a law to ensure proper maintenance of roads. The department/officials concerned responsible for road maintenance should be penalised for not repairing cave-ins.

Gautam Dev

Poor supervision by civic body

Some roads have caved-in and accidents happened in Ludhiana. There are many causes like poor supervision by the Municipal Corporation and contractor’s failure to use high quality sewer lines and road repair material. Therefore, the authorities concerned should register criminal charges against officials/department concerned.

Dr Sukhdev Sharma

Commuters not able to spot cave-ins

Roads often cave-in during the rainy season in the city. Frequent accidents are reported because commuters are unable to spot cave-ins due to waterlogging on roads. A few roads like the ones leading to Ishmeet Chowk, Gobind Nagar and Habowal have caved-in spreading panic among citizens about their safety. The authorities must book the department and contractor concerned, who are responsible for maintaining and planning roads in the city, if a cave-in is reported on a stretch under their jurisdiction.

Vikas Sharma

QUESTION

The sudden increase in farm fires and indiscriminate bursting of firecrackers on Diwali night has led to widespread pollution, causing thick smog and deterioration of the air quality to ‘very poor’ level in Ludhiana. What should be done to check rising air pollution, which experts say can also lead to Covid resurgence, besides causing serious complications among bronchitis and heart patients?

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