M A I N   N E W S

Can Chidambaram open Hussainiwala border? 
Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service

Ferozepur, October 21
Irked over restrictions and difficulties being faced by residents of the border areas whose landholdings are situated across the cobra fencing erected about 20 years ago, the Border Area Sangharsh Committee is slated to take up the issue with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram tomorrow.

“We are yet to get compensation in lieu of 11-ft-wide land acquired by the Centre alongside the zero line in 1947 . The fencing has also not been done as per the recommendations made by the Kapoor Committee about 20 years ago,” alleged state president of the committee Arsal Singh. He said a memorandum in connection with their grievances and demands would be submitted to the Union Home Minister at Hussainiwala tomorrow.

Confidence-building measures for the past couple of years notwithstanding, residents of villages along the border in the state continue to face a plethora of problems, including those pertaining to transportation, education and health.

Though promises have been made to them since the period of militancy, nothing has been done so far. They have been facing problems of connectivity with the rest of the state as well as their own district headquarters in particular. They also rue lack of basic infrastructure and civic amenities.

The Punjab Roadways runs a skeletal service linking these villages to the district headquarters while private bus operators do not seem to be interested in plying buses on these “unprofitable routes.” Moreover, there is a cluster of 20-odd villages in Gurdaspur where travelling across the Ravi is a nightmarish experience. Though the district administration has made arrangements for boats to ferry passengers across the Ravi and Ujh, these are not enough.

Deputy Commissioner Pirthi Chand also admits that things get worse during the monsoon every year because these villagers are cut off from the nearby towns and cities.

He claimed that once a bridge on Ujh comes up next month near Narot Jaimal Singh, residents will get a reprieve.

There are about 12 primary, elementary and senior secondary schools in the Bhumiyal sector in the border area, but due to a skeletal bus service, teachers face difficulties to reach there. The DC also admitted that: “There is a primary school in Skoll village in the Bhamiyal sector, where teachers seldom come. This is a routine thing in villages of the border areas. Students of this village have to transverse long distances to attend schools in other villages.” Nirmal Singh of Channa village in the Ajnala subdivision rued that: “We are not even getting basic amenities like quality healthcare, education and transportation.

Maninder Singh of Nangal Sohal village in Ramdas said their village school was only up to middle standard. Since his daughter had been promoted to Class IX, she had to be admitted to the nearest higher school in Jatta Passiyan village.

— With inputs from Ravi Dhaliwal and Neeraj Bagga