Ludhiana: A large portion of the road caved in at Kitchlu Nagar’s B Block on Joginderpal Pandey Marg on Thursday. The incident occurred just three days after part of the same road collapsed and was subsequently repaired. This time, the collapse occurred only a few steps away from the spot damaged previously.The tyres of a tractor-trolley loaded with bricks got stuck when the driver stopped to drink water from a water cooler installed nearby. As efforts were made to pull the trolley out, a large section of the road collapsed, leaving behind a crater over 20 feet deep.The crater extended up to the boundary wall of a house, raising concerns about the safety of the retaining wall. Officials said their priority was to safeguard the house from damage. A 72-inch sewer line passes beneath the road, and repairing the damage poses a challenge as water continues to flow through the line.Underground cables were visible inside the crater. MC officials claimed that digging of the road to lay cables may have damaged the sewer line. The resulting soil erosion allegedly created a hollow cavity beneath the road surface. As the trolley, loaded with bricks, stopped on the stretch, the weakened portion reportedly collapsed. Officials said it was a major relief that the trolley was pulled out safely before the road gave way.Assistant commissioner Jasdev Sekhon, who was present at the site, said, “Teams have been called to the site to fix the fault. Our first priority is to safeguard the house. Thereafter, the damaged sewer line will be repaired.” He added that initial findings suggested that cable-laying work could have caused damage to the sewer infrastructure.Owner of the affected house said that a major cave-in had occurred outside his main gate on Monday. Saying that witnessing another, much larger collapse had left the family worried, he urged authorities to act quickly and repair the damage.The stretch, which connects Hambran and Ferozepur roads, is an important route for commuters travelling towards DMC Hospital, Ghumar Mandi and Ferozepur Road. The stretch was recently reconstructed after nearly four years of delay amid political wrangling.It has suffered repeated damage, including a cave-in near Saggu Chowk on June 26 and the latest collapse on Thursday.Throwback to June 2013The incident brought back memories of a similar road collapse on June 13, 2013. At the time, the MC took more than a month to repair the damaged stretch.Fire brigade and cops on dutyBesides MC staff, fire brigade and police teams were deployed at the site of the road cave-in. Fire officials were called as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of residents living in the house closest to the collapse. In case of an emergency, they were prepared to assist with evacuation.Police personnel regulated traffic around the affected area. With the road closed, vehicles were diverted through residential lanes, resulting in congestion.Test structural safety: ActivistsCity-based activists criticised the MC for failing to address repeated incidents of road cave-ins.Activist Balbir Agarwal filed a complaint against the MC commissioner and other officials following the latest incident. In his complaint to the Punjab chief minister, he said that photographs of the site clearly showed extensive hollow space beneath the road, with sewerage lines, drains and other underground utilities exposed after the collapse.He said that if a school bus, van, car or two-wheeler had been passing through the area at the time, the incident could have resulted in deaths or serious injuries. He demanded a high-level investigation into the matter.Another activist, Arvind Sharma, said recurring failures of a newly-constructed road raise serious questions about construction quality, technical supervision and utilisation of public funds. He demanded an independent technical audit and vigilance inquiry to determine whether poor workmanship, inferior materials, negligence or undue favour to contractors had contributed to the repeated damage.Political backlashFormer Union minister of state for railways Ravneet Singh Bittu took to social media slamming the Ludhiana administration and Punjab govt for the second road cave-in within five days, which had posed danger for residents’ homes.
