Despite heavy toll, ride not smooth on Jalandhar-Ludh highway

Jalandhar: Quite a few big potholes on the National Highway stretch between Jalandhar and Ludhiana are leading to accidents and damage to vehicles. Further, the stretch between Goraya and Phillaur is the worst affected. "There is no day when the tires of cars do not burst after hitting the potholes, especially during the night. Very often, vehicles going in the same direction ram into each other when drivers suddenly slow down or take swift turns in a bid to avoid hitting the potholes directly," said Prof Rishu, a municipal councillor of Goraya, who daily travels between Goraya and Phillaur. "It is a toll road and the tax at Ladhowal toll barrier is quite high, but the condition of the road is increasing accidents, which can also prove fatal, especially for 2-wheeler riders," she said. "On Feb 1, two youths were badly injured after their scooter hit a pothole and they fell down. They had a narrow escape as the vehicles behind them were not fast. Passers-by helped them and our ambulance rushed them to a hospital," said Rajan Makkar of the Goraya Ambulance Welfare Association. Paras Arora, a resident of Phillaur, said that on Sunday night, his car was hit by another car from behind when they slowed down due to a big pothole while travelling to Goraya. "Both cars were damaged. People in the other car were returning from Vrindavan towards Batala and they had to return to Ludhiana due to damage to the car," he said.When contacted, Goraya SHO Sikandar Singh Virk said that daily, there were several incidents of tires of vehicles bursting, and other accidents were also caused by the potholes. During the rainy season, water often accumulates at several places on the stretch between Jalandhar and Ludhiana, leading to damage to the road. "After the rains last year, several big potholes developed and patchwork was done, which is also not smooth," said another local. MSID: 128116968 413 |