Khuda Ali Sher a picture of official indifference

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 13

Situated on the border of Punjab and Haryana and spread on 564 acres, Khuda Ali Sher village has a population of 15,000. While the village is outside the MC limits and wants to stay that way, it lacks basic safety arrangements for residents, especially children, apart from inadequate water and electricity supply. 

Government Model Senior Secondary School in the village sans principal for over three months now. Rupinderjit S Brar, Director, Public Instructions, Schools, said, “The principal of the government school in Sector 10 has been given the additional charge of the school as of now but a new principal will be appointed within a week.” 

The sanitation and cleanliness of the school is another issue in the absence of adequate number of sweepers and water supply. The school is spread over an acre-and-a-half and and has 4,000 students with only two sweepers to maintain cleanliness. 

Even bathrooms of the school stink. These are not only unusable but also a breeding ground for insects. Though the village boasts of its stadium, it is another risky place for children to play. While the ground surface is uneven at many places, it lacks proper green cover. it is also strewn with pebbles and stones. The rest of the stadium is either unusable due to the growth of congress grass or it is used as a parking lot by nearby residents. 

Village sarpanch Hukum Chand said a park at the village had been approved, which would be built in three months. “A plan to provide better sports infrastructure at the village stadium is also in the pipeline,” he added.

Moreover, low-lying electricity wires make even a stroll on the road a risky affair. One of the transformers at the village is of shorter height, an invitation to mishaps. Some of the villagers claimed that the transformer in question was old and had developed a snag a couple of times. The risk of fire always keeps nearby residents on their toes. 

Sarpanch Hukam Chand is aware of the problems and claimed to have written to the authorities concerned a number of times but all in vain. “The wiring is really old, which often leads to frequent power outages. Even a low-intensity storm leads to power cuts. We have written to the authorities concerned a number of times but they never visited the area for even an inspection,” he said.

A shortage of water is another problem that residents of Khuda Alisher face. According to the sarpanch, there are eight tube wells in the village but the demand for water is increasing by the day. Some of the residents said they received water for only four hours in a day that too at a low pressure.

With non-functional street lights, people struggle in narrow lanes of the village in the night.