Commuters travelling from Jagraon pull to Jalandhar Bypass face constant trouble as the presence of construction machinery lying on the highway for a long time has made travelling difficult for them. The condition of the highway has made them question the responsibility of authorities for keeping the roads safe for daily travelling.The barricades around the highway are broken with no proper reflectors or warning signs, which poses a serious threat to the daily commuters. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)The barricades around the highway are broken with no proper reflectors or warning signs and the machinery remains on one of the city’s busiest stretches even after work has stopped.Every day thousands of vehicles pass through the stretch, which poses a risk to their lives. The stationary machinery has made traffic jams a common sight while many motorists who continue to drive at highway speeds.During the night or during rain drivers have very little time to notice an unmarked obstacle. A single mistake or a moment of poor visibility could turn into a fatal crash.Rajpal, a daily commuter said that if the government expects citizens to follow every traffic rule shouldn’t it also ensure that the roads, specially highways, are free of avoidable dangers? Why should commuters risk their lives because machinery has been left behind without proper safety measures?”He said that this is not an isolated case as similar machinery had remained at other locations like Dugri pull for a long period of time but it recently got removed.Reacting to the issue, ADCP Gurpreet Kaur Purewal said that the concerned authorities informed them that the work is still pending and added that the stationary machinery will be removed once the work is completed.When contacted SE Harkiran singh,he said, “The road carpeting work is underway. The rainy season has slowed down the project but if there are any obstacles in the way, the authorities will inspect them and ensure they are removed.”Journeys turned tragic in the past A pilgrimage turned tragic for a Dehradun family on June 16 when their car rammed into an unidentified stationary vehicle on the Ludhiana-Delhi national highway near Sahnewal in the early hours of the morning. The crash claimed the life of a 46-year-old man and left his son critically injured. Similarly, two drivers were killed in a tragic road accident on November 8, 2025 on a national highway near Doraha, when a speeding truck rammed into a stationary tipper loaded with gravel. The impact of the collision resulted in death of both the driver and the passenger at the spot.