Sewerage facility non-existent in village, residents want desilting, underpasses

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The historic Fatehpur Rajputan village with a population of over 2,000 does not have sewerage facility at all. Over the years, multiple governments and departments concerned never spared a thought on providing a network of pipes.

Baljit Singh Jammu, 65, who operates a resort in the village, wonders why no government ever bothered to provide sewerage facility to the village. Even 78 years after the country gained independence from foreign yoke, the sewerage system does not exist at all, resulting in unhygienic conditions in the village.

Proper cleanliness is at stake as residents drain out waste water from their houses in village Chappar. There is no provision to either clean it or dispose it, resulting in unhygienic conditions. Dense hyacinth growth poses another problem.

Kasur nullah also crosses the village. De-silting of the nullah has been required for long but ignored. Residents of the village approached the government with this request several times in the past but it remained unheeded, they complain.

A native of the village, Dr Ranbir Singh Josan, expressed his concern over the lack of quality education in the village. He said there are about five private schools functional in the city and only one government primary school. As a result, families prefer to send their wards to private schools in the city. About 20 school buses transport these students to the city schools.

Kulbir Singh Dhanju, 70, a farmer, said connectivity was not an issue, as an ample number of state-run and private buses are available to link it to the city. He added that the village required underpasses on the under-construction four-lane Amritsar-Mehta-Hargobindpur-Una highway on bypasses at Fatehpur to Nizampur and Fatehpur to Makhanwindi roads. It will facilitate un-interrupted flow of traffic while construction of the highway will go on. At present, the civil work of the highway has reached Fatehpur Rajputan village.

Hardip Singh, a retired teacher, expressed his dismay that government-run affordable healthcare did not exist in the village at all. In its absence, a couple of private hospitals have come up in the village that charge exorbitantly for even minor treatment. A government-run veterinary hospital is also available.

Hardip Singh said adequate banking facility is not available in the village as only one branch of the Cooperative Bank and a post office are functional.

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