Malerkotla bridge gives way twice in year, so does voters' patience

Malerkotla, January 25

Within a year of construction, the road overbridge (RoB) on Sangrur-Ludhiana Road in Malerkotla has developed cracks for the second time, thus triggering allegations of misappropriation of crores and use of poor quality material. As a result, the Public Works Department has got the repair works started and closed the structure for traffic.

Aman Thapar, district secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party, said, “The cracks may lead to collapse of the RoB. The authorities are again trying to hide the use of poor quality material by undertaking repair works. Senior officials should immediately order a high-level vigilance inquiry and registration of an FIR against the officers and the contractor concerned.”

After delay of numerous years, the RoB was thrown open to public on April 6, 2021. The length of the RoB is 785 meters and was constructed at a cost of Rs 29.57 crore.

As the structure lies on on the main road and witnesses heavy traffic, residents urged the authorities to not open the RoB in a hasty manner as it was done earlier. Locals said the over bridge should be closed till the contractor gets a clearance from an expert panel.

Nasir, a resident, said, “Developing of cracks on the RoB has confirmed that poor quality material was used in its construction. We will take up the matter with higher authorities after the formation of new government in March.”

Charanjit Singh Bains, Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, said, “We have closed the RoB for the repair works. We have directed the contractor to revamp the structure as per the directions of the technical team.” —