Three months on, no action against digging by telecom company

Learning no lesson from the recent road cave-in on the Chandigarh Road due to the illegal digging by a telecom company, the authorities concerned are still following an irresponsible attitude towards taking any action in the matter of diggings by a telecom firm.

On the one hand, the telecom company is carrying out digging ignoring the safety of commuters, on the other hand, the authorities have failed to fill the pits dug up by these firms and even no action has been initiated against the defaulter.

Three months have passed, when three pits were dug up by a telecom company to install wires on road behind the bus stop on Jalandhar bypass, Ludhiana.

HT had highlighted the issue on May 4 and June 13, but neither the MC nor the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have taken any steps to fill these pits, in which some people have fell down in the past some days.

Deputy mayor RD Sharma was also informed about these pits inviting mishaps, but he has also failed to take any action. To avoid mishaps, the locals have now kept at part of tree on one of the pits, which is around fivefeet deep.

A resident, Rakesh Kumar, said, “I have witnessed that some people got injuries after falling into these pits at night, as there are no streetlights in the area. I have also made several complaints, but no action was taken.”

A social activist, Manjit Singh Mehram, said, “It shows total negligence on the part of authorities and the telecom company. If the authorities will not take action, who will?”
As per the sources, the officials and telecom company were hands in gloves due to which, the officials don’t check the violations.

Also, the MC officials don’t have answer that whether any telecom company had taken any permission to dig up the places However, the bus stop at Jalandhar bypass Chowk was built by the municipal corporation.

The MC claims that the area falls under the NHAI, stating that their limit ends at Jalandhar bypass.

MC sub-divisional officer RP Gupta claimed that the area falls under National Highways Authority of India, which was responsible to fill these pits. “However, I will visit the area and if possible, I will direct the staff for filling these pits,” he said.