Ludhiana: Commuters in Ludhiana are facing severe traffic disruptions as civic authorities have failed to clear and fully restore road stretches affected by recent cave-ins, leaving repaired sites filled with sand and blocked by barricades for weeks.Despite initial repair work, streets across key posh localities—including Kitchlu Nagar, Gurdev Nagar, and Sarabha Nagar—remain partially obstructed, forcing traffic into narrow single lanes.In Gurdev Nagar, where a car fell into a crater on July 30, the cave-in was filled with sand within a day. However, a municipal water tanker parked over the site has remained stationary there for over a month.Similarly, a major sewer line cave-in occurred in Kitchlu Nagar on Aug 6. Although underground repairs finished over two weeks ago, barricades, sand cover, and two large sewer pipes continue to block the lane, with local commercial shops using the obstructed space for customer parking.On Sarabha Nagar road, a site repaired following an Aug 14 cave-in also remains blocked due to unremoved municipal barricades.Resident complaints and civic responseLocal residents expressed frustration over navigating around long-standing roadblocks.“We need to take PAU Road (Kitchlu Nagar) in a zig zag manner while returning from Ferozepur Road side towards Hambran Road as barricades come in between. It appears that the civic body has kept this road for parking vehicles,” said Satinder Kaur, a resident of Haibowal, adding that opening the road would immediately reduce traffic jams.Conceding that considerable time has passed, a senior municipal corporation official claimed that the delay ensures the structural repairs settle properly before final carpeting. The official assured that full road restoration will take place once general roadwork resumes.
