Road to Badal village a shadow of its past

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 27

Among the best stretches in Punjab not too long ago, the road from Bathinda to former CM Parkash Singh Badal’s native village has fallen into disrepair.

This has prompted Union Minister and MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal to write to Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, seeking immediate repair of four stretches, including the Bathinda-Ghudda-Badal road.

Repairs on this stretch haven’t been carried out for a long time. The road is frequently used by the Union Minister, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. It was constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD) at a cost of Rs 26 crore from the Central Road Fund.

Harsimrat claimed that four stretches in her parliamentary constituency — the 25-km Bathinda-Ghudda-Badal road, 9.5-km Ratia-Sardulgarh road, 19.51-km Sardulgarh-Sirsa road and 18-km Nathana-Baghapurana road — were in a dilapidated state and needed immediate repairs.

A PWD (B&R) official said the work on the road was listed under a central scheme in 2019-20, but they hadn’t received any update so far. During the SAD-BJP regime, Badal village was the only one in the state to have a four-lane road dotted by palm trees, solar lighting and an array of buildings.