Washed-away bridge over Choe takes centre stage in Sanour Assembly segment this election

In the absence of a bridge, people had to take a detour to reach Rajpura, till residents of neighbouring villages came together and constructed a kachchi sadak (unmetalled road) along the swept-away bridge with the help of Kar Sewa Baba again.

“It cost us around Rs 5-6 lakh. We got help from different village panchayats and Baba Amrik Singh. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Sanour Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra provided us with pipes to drain the water. We repeatedly requested the authorities to reconstruct the bridge, but to no avail,” Shankarpur village sarpanch Amrik Singh said.

“Since I have my allegiance to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), they (government authorities) do not want to do any work in our area. They have issues. They have stopped all our development works midway,” the sarpanch added.

When contacted, Pathanmajra said, “The village where the bridge was located doesn’t fall in his constituency. It’s in the Ghanaur segment.”

The sarpanch, however, said the bridge was a part of Sanour. “The MLA is lying. Why did he send us pipes if it was not his area? The bridge was on the border of Ghanaur and Sanour,” the Sarpanch said.

Recalling how people pooled resources to create a road, Amrik Singh’s son Kuldeep said, “As the governments failed, the people took over. Now, we have a road to cross the river in the absence of a bridge. But no one in the government cares for us.”

Kuldeep, however, said, “Once monsoon arrives, the rain will wash away the temporary road. So, we hope a new bridge will come up before it starts raining. However, it doesn’t look feasible as nothing has been done thus far.”

Angrez Singh from Seel village said with no bridge, people used to take a detour from Damanheri and Daun Khurd villages. “With the help of villagers, the unsettled road is now motorable. But if the river swells, the road will be washed away. When leaders come for votes, they promise everything otherwise no one cares.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Gurvinder Singh from Akkar village said that they had no hope. “We voted for the AAP, but when it comes to completing works, nothing has been done.”