Potholed Mohali roads give bumpy ride to commuters
Sanjay Bumbroo
Tribune News Service
Mohali, March 14
Recarpeting work in Sectors 76 to 80 here hasn’t been carried out for the past four years and the condition of roads has gone from bad to worse. The roads are hardly motorable as they are filled with potholes and uncovered manholes.
In addition to some “engineering flaws”, the persistent ignorance of the authorities towards re-carpeting of roads after digging them up for underground drainage works are adding to the commuters’ woes.
The internal roads in these sectors, too, are in bad shape. Water logging due to gullies that often get choked is another reason for residents’ disappointment. The worst affected is the dividing road of Sector 79-80, which has the maximum number of potholes. Even mild rainfall causes water stagnation on the road which could be dangerous for the motorists, particularly the two wheelers.
Earlier, the maintenance of the roads in these sectors came under the purview of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) but now the work has been transferred to the Mohali Municipal Corporation.
A senior official of the GMADA said that they carpet the roads after every five years and they cannot carry out the recarpeting work as the decision to hand over the maintenance works to the MC had already been taken.
Regarding the recarpeting of the Sector 79-80 diving road, the official said they have already allotted the work and the same would begin soon.
The official further said that most of the times it was the ignorant attitude of the residents that caused damage to the roads, especially during construction of houses, when people use roads for keeping the building material.
MC Commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said that they were conducting a survey of the roads and would take only those roads from the GMADA which were in proper condition or else, they would take money from the GMADA for recarpeting the damaged roads.
