Bangi Ruldu is the envy of the state

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

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Tribune News Service

Bangi Ruldu (Bathinda), September 20

People from all over the state are visiting Bangi Ruldu village to study its development model. The ficus tree plantation in the village surroundings, an impressive waterworks at its entrance and a volleyball ground with floodlights are awe-inspiring.

Recently, a 10-member team from Dhan Singh Khana that became the Nirmal Gram of the state visited the village to have a look at its sewerage plant and the tree plantation.

Sarpanch Dalvir Kaur said, “Our village is as good as any award winning village. It has been ignored by the state government. It should have been awarded.”

Balbir Singh (75) said the village had transformed over the past couple of years. “Earlier, carcasses were seen lying at the site where this waterworks has been built. The stench was nauseating,” he said.

However, the sarpanch’s son, Ramandeep Singh (32), transformed our village. He said each resident contributed Rs 1,500 to clear its pending water bill of Rs 9.5 lakh. The panchayat also saved about Rs 75,000. Now, the village is one of the few in the state to have cleared its water dues.

When asked about the ficus plantation, Youth Club chief Gurwinder Singh said a team watered the trees daily. The villagers have come up with some ingenious ways to tackle red tape. To save time on getting approval for power to streetlights, villagers redirected power from their homes to 52 poles. They paid for all the public utility, said Master Barjinder Singh (72), a retired schoolteacher.

Even the village playgrounds are impressive. The volley ball court has got floodlights. The work carried out by the villagers is in stark contrast to the shoddy works done by the state government. An elated Ramandeep ‘Happy’ said, “No criminal case has been registered in our village for the past over two years. The government school building that was declared unsafe by the state authorities has been virtually rebuilt.”