Road caves in due to telecom firm negligence, major tragedy averted

With a stretch cavingin on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh Road on Sunday night, around 30 feet long and 6 feet deep crated was formed on the road near Hotel Nav Classic. However, a major tragedy was averted.

Residents claimed that the road caved-in due to negligence of a telecom company which had laid wires under this road without permission last week. When wires were being laid, a water pipe too was damaged by a machine being used to lay wires, disrupting water supply to adjoining Beant Pura. The municipal corporation (MC) officials had also failed to find the fault behind the erratic water supply, claimed the residents.

Around 11.30pm on Sunday, some area residents saw that the road had caved-in and informed the police, who barricaded the area to avoid any mishap as thousands of vehicles traverse on that road on daily basis.

The MC started to repair the road and damaged water supply pipeline on Monday morning, but as the JCB started digging the road the caved-in area increased.

A step away from the cavein, a machine was installed by a telecom company to lay wires last week, but they did work with negligence. There was no water supply in our area for the past four-five days. We had complained to the MC, but nobody was getting any idea that why the supply was being disrupted. Water was flowing under the road when cave-in appeared on Sunday night Om Parkash Singh Billu, president of Beant Pura Welfare Association.

When the MC team was digging up the road, they found the damaged pipeline and wires that were recently laid by a telecom company Billu added.

Another resident Gurmail Singh said, it is a very busy road but timely barricading averted mishaps. We were facing problems due to erratic water supply. Though water was being supplied through tankers, we came to know this morning that a telecom company had damaged supply pipe.”

MC ISSUES NOTICE TO TELECOM COMPANY

The MC issued a notice to Vodafone South Limited Co after Vodafone was found inscribed on the wires laid under the road where a cave-in took place.

Superintending engineer Dharam Singh said, We have also written to the police to register an FIR against Vodafone South Limited Co as they had not taken any permission from the MC to lay the wires.

He said a notice was also issued to company to pay 1.01 lakh as compensation to the MC for damaging road and water line within three days.

He claimed that at times, when telecom companies do not get permission they laid wires during night.

Singh added that the damaged water supply pipe was repaired and the supply was restored.