New DC has his task cut out in border district

Ravi Dhaliwal

Gurdaspur, March 22

The new Deputy Commissioner (DC) Vishesh Sarangal will have his hands full in grappling with the problems that this district is beset with.

Every DC in the last 15 years has had his own agenda of development. When they were shifted, some had excellent results to show while others faded into oblivion after making below-par efforts. All eyes are now on the new incumbent. Residents say they are sure he must be well-versed with the principle of Archimedes’ lever which says: “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world.” In other words, if a DC is given proper facilities and is surrounded by a suitable work environment, he can change the face of this border district.

Sarangal joined office today in the morning.

The first and foremost challenge for the new incumbent is the repair, re-carpeting and reconstruction of the perennially decrepit 25 km stretch of the Gurdaspur-Mukerian road. Rs 18 crore has already been sanctioned for this project. Such is its condition that commuters often have to take their vehicles for wheel-realignment once they have travelled on it. Such is its reputation that residents, on more than one occasion, have demanded a probe. They say the focus of the inquiry should be on how many times the road has been repaired by the PWD in the last 20 years and how much money has been spent on it.

The DC will have to go full throttle ahead in this venture keeping in view its strategic importance. The Tibri cantonment is located on this road. Cane farmers use this stretch to take their produce to sugar-mills. Significantly, it links Gurdaspur to Hoshiarpur and Chandigarh.

Politically speaking, Sarangal will have to be on the same page with AAP leader and Halqa in-charge of Gurdaspur Raman Bahl. Any misunderstanding between the two will have the potential to jeopardise development projects. On the contrary, if the two work in harmony, together they can negate the thinking that nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.

Out of a total of seven assembly seats this district has, five are represented by Congress MLAs. The new officer will have to play the trapeze artist to near perfection if he has to keep the Opposition MLAs in good humour. Many of these legislators are in the habit of using language that will not exactly be music to the ears of the officer.

Villagers, for whom change is anathema, will have to be told that the changes they dread the most may have their salvation inherent in it. Ex-DC Himanshu Aggarwal had started the concept of ‘Abaad camps’ in border villages. This meant the entire district administration machinery is shifted to a particular village near the Pakistan border where villagers get their administrative work done. Sarangal should continue with these camps.

The traffic chaos also needs to be sorted out. Not long ago, shopkeepers were asked to use their basements for parking purposes because, according to municipal committee rules, these cannot be used for any other purpose. However, the matter still awaits resolution. If basements are indeed used for parking, 80 per cent of the traffic woes will be taken care of. Here, the new officer will have to counter the shopkeepers’ lobby which enjoys immense political patronage.

The DC would also do well to drive to the Keshopur wetland, one of Asia’s biggest wetlands. He will see how encroachments on roads have reduced their width to barely 10 feet at some places. The eco-tourists have stopped coming because it is not possible for them to drive to the wetland. Residents also demand that the new DC should hold an inquiry into why the Tourist Interpretation Centre (TIC) at the wetland is not being used. This may open a can of worms for both the wildlife and tourism departments. Himanshu Aggarwal did mark a probe but what happened after that is not known to anybody. Many claim the inquiry got buried in the sands of time “because there were too many influential stakeholders involved.”

The biggest problem for Sarangal will be how to stop the flow of heroin in the city’s alleys. Already the phenomenon has reached alarming proportions. The sooner the scourge is nipped in the bud, the better it will be.