Commuters suffer as NH-44 develops cracks

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, August 3

With the onset of monsoon, the National Highway-44 has developed several potholes, posing a serious threat to commuters’ lives. A major crack has come up near the Gharaunda flyover. The railing of a flyover near Taraori has been uprooted.

Covers of drains are missing at several places, posing a threat to commuters. Residents alleged that despite paying toll, they had been given a poor quality highway.

They raised questions over the quality of material used for NH-44. Commuters alleged that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had been waiting for a major accident.

“I am a daily commuter and face huge inconvenience due to pathetic condition of the road. The situation has worsened after the monsoon. Several potholes have developed on the main road, but there is nobody to look into the issue,” said Narinder Singh, a local commuter.

Sukhram Bedi, a local resident, raised questions over quality. He said the NH-44 could not withstand rain and the road had crumbled at several places. He said that a big crack was seen near the Gharaunda flyover.

Saurabh Kadyan, another local resident, said SOMA, the company concerned, had been charging toll, but failed to provide a good quality road to commuters. He said the whole stretch was full of potholes.

He maintained that several accidents had taken place in the past few years due to construction of the highway. He said there was no check on illegal cuts by the authorities. He pointed out that signage was missing at several places.

Nishant Yadav, Additional Deputy Commissioner, said the issue had been brought to their notice and they had sought a reply from the NHAI project director. Jasbinder Singh, NHAI project director, said he would get the highway stretch checked.