Dug up over 3 years ago, upscale Green Field still does not have internal roads
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Nidhi.Bhardwaj@timesofindia.com
Ludhiana: Despite the surge in political interest in the poll-bound West constituency, residents of Green Field have been struggling in the absence of internal roads for over three years. A commute in the area is an ordeal of dust and twisting pathways. Ironically, Green Field is considered one of the upscale areas of the city.
Roads were dug up to lay water supply and sewer lines here about 3.5 years ago. It took over two years for authorities to complete work on water supply and sewer line in the area. On Thursday, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate,
Parupkar Singh Ghumman
, visited the area and met residents, who told him about the ordeal they were going through because of the uneven road. They complained that they could not let children play outside due to the risk of injury.
Former councillor Mamta Ashu, who has been raising the issue, said, "People complain about poor condition of streets to the area councillor but they do not get a reply. People are harassed by such attitude of officials as well as elected representatives."
MC executive engineer, Arvind Kumar, said, "When I went to the area, I found that half of the street had been constructed and work on the other half, which was left, was not included in the initial estimate of road work." Later, the MC decided to get road work done in the entire area. Kumar said that the tender had been extended and work had been allocated. He added that the contractor had started constructing road gulleys for water drainage, which would be ready soon.
Road work starts in Mahavir Enclave
After the area councillor flagged the poor condition of roads, the MC started road construction work in Mahavir Enclave on Thursday. Work had been pending since 2024. According to councillor Sonam Pankaj Kaka, MLA, late Gurpreet Gogi, got the work approved, but after his sudden demise, officials forgot about it. The councillor voiced suspicion of the contractor taking the work at 37% less than the actual cost and said that this could result in use of poor quality material in road construction as well as early breakage of roads.
On Thursday, Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora visited the area for inauguration of road work to be done for Rs 1.15 crore. He assured residents that there would be a third-party audit of the work, and they would ensure construction of a good quality road.
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