Activists flag design flaws, safety issues of Lohara bridge
Ludhiana: Activists from the Council of Engineers and Public Action Committee have raised questions about the design of Lohara bridge under construction over the Sidhwan canal.
The bridge is in alignment with the missing link-2 Part C of the Southern Bypass project in Ludhiana, costing Rs 11.94 crore, and being built under the Smart City mission. The activists argue that it will lead to further chaos and bottlenecks due to traffic snarls at the junction of the Southern Bypass. They have written to the state chief secretary in this regard.
In fact, the activists also visited the site recently for an inspection.
They claimed that one bridge over Sidhwan canal is being constructed in alignment with the missing link-2 Part C of the 200ft bypass coming from Gill Chowk village. Traffic coming from the 200ft bypass will cross the Southern Bypass and, using the under-construction bridge, will then divert towards the other bank of Sidhwan canal. Thereafter, the traffic going towards Doraha/Delhi will take a right turn and, using the newly constructed bridge in front of Morgan crossing, will again return to the Southern Bypass to move towards Doraha.
The bridge is being constructed at about a 45° angle to Sidhwan canal. After crossing the bridge, vehicles taking a left turn will face a V-shaped bend, leading to a bottleneck. Since the width of the road on the other side of Sidhwan canal is not sufficient, heavy vehicles like trailers will have to move back and forth to take a proper turn. Similar problems will occur for heavy vehicles taking a right turn. For smooth movement of traffic, land will have to be acquired on this side, for which no steps have been taken, the activists alleged.
Notably, one bridge at Buddha Dariya (at Haibowal Kalan) is lying idle as the owner of a private property has refused to give land for the development of the road in front of that bridge. Thus, it seems that there is no practical vision from the engineers of the Smart City Projects, and it would be a sheer waste of smart city funds.
Instead of making provisions for this bridge over Sidhwan canal, the activists said it would have been better to construct a flyover over the Southern Bypass. An RCC slab over Sidhwan canal could have been constructed to increase the width of the Southern Bypass at this junction. The traffic coming from Doraha/Ferozepur Road would use the flyover, and traffic coming from the 200ft bypass would use the road under the flyover to move right or left.
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