Hundreds of commuters crossing the Railway Under Bridge (RUB) on Ambala-Kalka railway line at Mubarakpur village in Derabassi daily are facing inconvenience for the past two weeks because three manhole covers have been stolen from one of the two lanes. All the vehicles are now taking the other lane resulting in traffic congestion. The commuters said that despite the railway officials concerned being apprised about the situation, no concrete action has been taken yet. The situation becomes worse in the morning and evening hours when scores of people travelling between Zirakpur and Chandigarh cross the road. The railway under bridge was constructed and opened for public in July. The local residents, however, said that it was opened for public before the completion of the construction work. The railway employees are not cleaning the site, they alleged. Bhupinder Singh, a Mubarakpur resident who works in Chandigarh, said, “With the open manholes on one of the lanes, nobody can risk his/her life with riding vehicle through that road. The other lane is now congested. Railway officials are not giving any attention.” Sudhir Singla, a resident of Guru Nanak Colony, said, “There are several stone crushers in Mubarakpur and a lot of trucks ply through this road. When two trucks cross one lane, it leads to half an hour-long traffic jam.” MP Singh, Executive Engineer with Kalka-Ambala railway section, said, “We are aware about the problem. We have started the installation work of covers yesterday. But due to technical reasons, it was stalled. Now, we are installing the manhole covers with interlocking in the earth so that cannot be removed. In addition to it, we are also going to install a pump near the RUB for the drainage of logged water during the heavy rain. New manhole covers will be installed within a few days.”
