Road to Gavahi village cries for attention

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 22

In the absence of road residents of Gavahi village in Morni block of the Panchkula district face problems to reach hospitals. They have to trek 3 km stretch to reach Thandog village to take an ambulance to ferry seriously ill to hospitals in the district.

Recently, as an ambulance could not move beyond Thandog village a family along with their neighbours in Gavahi village had to take a pregnant woman on a cot for delivery at the public health centre (PHC) in Raipur Rani.

Virendra Singh, a resident of village Gavahi, said recently, his sister-in-law had labour pains. As the ambulance could not reach the village due to damaged road, he with the help of other persons took her to Thandog village on a cot. From there she was taken to the Raipur Rani PHC in an ambulance.

Virender Singh, Gopal Singh, Tek Singh, Praveen Singh, Mohan Singh and Kuldeep Singh, all residents of Gavahi village, said they had urged the Panchayat and the Forest Departments to repair the kutcha (makeshift) road, but both did not show any interest in carrying out repairs, which created problems for the people.

The Forest Department had constructed a kutcha road long time ago, but it was damaged in landslides during the last rainy season, they added.

Now, it had become difficult even to drive two-wheelers in the area as the stretch had deep potholes created by landslides, they said. Villagers either had to park their vehicles at a safe distance on the route or at Thandog village, they added.

Despite repeated requests neither the Panchayat nor the Forest Departments repaired the road and made it motorable, they said.

Students in the village, who went to Thandog village and Morni for studying in various educational institutions had to travel 3 km daily to reach their institutions, they added.

Students could not concentrate on their studies as most of the time was lost in reaching villages, they said. Villagers themselves had repaired the road by filling deep potholes besides removing trees that fell on the stretch during landslides, they added.

Villagers urged the administration to repair the road so that ambulances could reach their village in case of an emergency.

Forest Department officer Vishal Kaushik said he would raise the issue in the monthly meeting of the Deputy Commissioner so that necessary process to repair the road could be initiated.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Manita Malik said the Forest Department had to do the work of constructing road up to the village. She would take up the matter with officials concerned of the Forest Department, the ADC added.

She could not say much about the condition of the road and would try to find out was action was being taken to solve the issue, the ADC said.