A major road cave-in near Sita Nagar, close to Bharat Nagar Chowk in Ludhiana, triggered severe traffic congestion on one of the city's busiest stretches, leaving commuters stranded for hours and sparking renewed concerns about the condition of underground civic infrastructure.
Incident Details
The cave-in occurred on the road leading from Bharat Nagar Chowk towards the bus stand. A significant portion of the carriageway caved in, leaving only half of the road available for traffic movement. This resulted in long vehicle queues throughout the day, causing significant inconvenience to hundreds of commuters using the busy stretch. Motorists were forced to navigate through narrow lanes, leading to traffic bottlenecks during peak hours.
Response by Authorities
Municipal Corporation officials promptly arrived at the scene and cordoned off the affected area. Civic teams began excavation work to ascertain the exact cause of the incident. SDO Arjun Sikka stated that preliminary investigation pointed towards damage to an underground water supply pipeline during a cable installation work carried out in the past. He explained, 'We dug up the road to determine the actual reason behind the cave-in. During the inspection, it came to light that cable wires had been laid in the area in the past and the work had damaged a water pipeline. Continuous leakage from the pipe weakened the soil underneath, eventually leading to the road collapse.'
Recurring Issue
This latest cave-in has again highlighted concerns over repeated incidents of road collapses in the city. Similar incidents were reported on Tajpur Road on May 2, near Mint Gumri Chowk on March 23, and on a road near Chand Cinema on March 2. Residents have repeatedly demanded a comprehensive audit of underground utility works and stricter monitoring of road-cutting projects. MC officials said repair work was being undertaken and efforts were on to restore normal traffic movement at the earliest.
