Ludhiana | Piqued by slow pace of covering Ganda Nullah, residents stage protest

Irked by the slow pace of work of covering Ganda Nullah, residents of Shivaji Nagar staged a sit- in protest on Shingar Cinema road on Sunday.

The protesting residents said as per the schedule, the said work— which started in 2020— should have been completed in 2022, but the work is nowhere close its accomplishment.

Due to this, the residents of New Shivaji Nagar, Shivaji Nagar and Dharmapura have been facing difficulties.

The protesting residents said they raised the issue with the civic body officials and also with MLAs of both the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), but to no avail, after which they were forced to block the road to wake up the authorities from their slumber.

Surender Singh, who was sitting on the dharna, said as the work of covering the nullah has stopped, it is causing problems to the common people. A few days ago, AAP MLA Ashok Prashar Pappi had visited to check the issue and asked the contractor to start the work immediately. However, despite receiving the directions, the contractor has not yet started the work, he added.

Inder Aggarwal, former councillor said, “The contractor has raised the height of the road in the area where the drain has been covered due to which the rainwater is entering the residential and commercial areas located in the surrounding area of the nullah, which results in waterlogging on the streets during monsoon season.Even contaminated drinking water is being supplied to the area, affecting people’s health.”

He went to the corporation authorities with his complaint, but no one is ready to address the problem, Aggarwal said, adding that the open drain is also posing danger to public safety. “Yesterday, a young man fell into the drain and got injured. Last year, during the rainy season, a scooter rider had also fell into the drain.”

Lift dharna after over-an-hour

After blocking the road for over an hour, residents lifted the dharna following the assurance from Tirath Bansal, superintending engineering of the Building and Road (B&R) branch of the MC.

The protest caused a massive traffic jam on both sides of the road, which connects Samrla Chowk with the Old City and Field Ganj Area. It is also used by the majority of people for visiting Christian Medical College and Hospital.

The police were seen diverting the traffic near Shingar Cinema.