Fatehgarh Churian-Dera Baba Nanak road cries for attention

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 10

While celebrating the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in 2019, then cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had inaugurated the work of widening and recarpeting the Fatehgarh Churian road, connecting Dera Baba Nanak and the city.

Even after five years, the road project is still incomplete. Irked over the poor condition of the road, which is riddled with potholes, besides being dusty, residents of nearby villages have staged protests against the authorities concerned many times. Instead of completing the road-widening project, the Public Works Department (PWD) had done only patchwork on the old road stretch last year.

“The government had assured the residents of the nearby areas that it would complete the recarpeting work within nine months, but it is still incomplete even after five years. A number of commuters have lost their lives in road accidents that took place on the stretch. Now again, the road-widening work has come to a halt due to the rains. We are hopeful that work will be completed in the next few months,” said Raja Bhullar, a resident of Kotla village.

It is worth mentioning here that the Fatehgarh Churian road is one of the major stretches leading to Dera Baba Nanak town adjoining the International Border between India and Pakistan. The road was not only narrow but also in a pathetic condition. Situated close to Amritsar district, Fatehgarh Churian town falls in Gurdaspur district and the 24-km road connects both districts.

On August 15, 2019, after unfurling the national flag at the Guru Nanak Dev stadium, then Punjab Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had announced that the main road from Amritsar to Dera Baba Nanak, connecting the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, would be widened by 33 feet at a cost of ~88 crore. The work of widening the road had started on the same day. As per the announcement, initially the road up to Fatehgarh Churian was to be widened and then the project was to cover Dera Baba Nanak.