Residents protest as potholed Fatehgarh Churian to Dera Baba Nanak road not recarpeted for years
Charanjit Singh Teja
Amritsar, November 23
The widening and recarpeting of Fatehgarh Churian road leading to Dera Baba Nanak has been hanging fire for the last four years. Irked over the poor condition of the road, which is riddled with potholes, besides being dusty, residents of several villages blocked traffic on the road and staged a protest at Chetanpura village here on Thursday.
The Fatehgarh Churian road is a prominent stretch leading to Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. Hundreds of devotees visit these shrines daily from Amritsar. Situated close to Amritsar district, Fatehgarh Churian falls in Gurdaspur district and the 24-km stretch connects both districts. Residents of more than 200 villages of Fathegarh Churian, Dera Baba Nanak and Batala tehsil visit Amritsar through this pathetic road.
On August 15, 2019, former Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had announced that the road from Amritsar to Dera Baba Nanak, connecting Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, would be widened at
a cost of Rs 88 crore. Initially, the road up to Fatehgarh Churian was to be widened following which the project would cover Dera Baba Nanak. The Public Works Department (PWD) had dug trenches on the roadside and fill the road with stones. The stones lying on the road have become a major hurdle in the smooth movement
of traffic. Besides, there
are lots of potholes on the road stretch.
Vehicular traffic has been diverted to narrow village roads to construct bridges on water bodies. There are several villages, which do not have any alternative road. Even the parallel Majitha Road is also in a pathetic condition and commuters have no option.
“The government had assured the residents of the areas to complete the road recarpeting work within nine months, but four years have elapsed and it is still incomplete. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has also failed to complete the project,” said Lakhwinder Singh, a resident of Sohian village.
Following the demonstration, administration officials including Sub-Divisional Engineer Nirmal Singh, Executive Engineer Harjot Singh and Superintending Engineer Inderjeet Singh of the Public Works Department visited the spot and assured the residents of filling the potholes within 10 days. They gave a written assurance to the residents.
“We will conduct a patchwork on the road within 10 days and commuters would not face any problem. The recarpeting of road is not possible till March as the winter season is not suitable for recarpeting,” said Inderjeet Singh, Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department.
