Ludhiana: Commuters in the city are facing daily traffic jams and hazardous driving conditions on Gill Road, where piecemeal construction work and monsoon waterlogging have left major stretches uneven and bottlenecked.Despite housing the municipal corporation’s Zone C office, the arterial road—which connects several residential, commercial, and industrial hubs—has remained under construction for months. Civic officials stated that the project will take another two months to complete. Under the current plan, the stretch from the petrol pump to Arora Palace is nearly complete, the section from Arora Palace to the canal will be paved with bitumen, and the flood-prone stretch from Gill Chowk to the petrol pump will be laid with concrete.Motorists report that temporary diversions and partial road openings cause traffic to crawl during peak hours. Rainfall has compounded the hazard by washing loose construction material across the road, creating mud, and submerging hidden potholes. Two-wheeler riders face the highest risk of skidding and accidents.Commuter Harish Sharma said, “The situation worsens after rainfall as loose construction material, potholes and muddy patches make driving hazardous.”Meanwhile, conditions remain equally grim on Noorwala Road, where residents and shopkeepers are waiting for long-overdue reconstruction following delays in sewer pipeline installation. Local shopkeepers recently staged protests over the slow pace of work, noting that rain-induced mud poses severe risks to school students, senior citizens, and daily commuters.Other stretches face similar fateA similar situation has prevailed along the Rahon Road and Tajpur Road stretches, where delayed road recarpeting and incomplete sewer line installations turned the industrial corridor into a hazardous transit zone. Heavy monsoon downpours have washed away temporary gravel fills, leaving deep craters and mud-laden tracks that frequently cause commercial vehicles to get stuck, leading to prolonged traffic gridlocks and repeated demonstrations by local industrial association members.Commuters navigating the Pakhowal Road and Chander Nagar stretches have also reported persistent delays linked to protracted utility-shifting and underpass construction projects. Repeated extensions of civic deadlines have forced daily traffic onto narrow, unpaved service lanes, where missing streetlights and submerged potholes pose severe safety risks during night hours and sudden spells of rain.
