Dug-up streets in CM Khattar’s village cry for repairs

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, July 16

The delay in the laying of sewer and water pipelines in Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s ancestral Nindana village in Rohtak district is posing a problem to its residents.

A majority of the streets in the village under Mohammadpur and Khas panchayats have been dug up but the pipeline-laying work has remained stalled for past several months. Villagers are facing hardship as they are being forced to park their vehicles far away from their houses.

“My son, a bank employee in Sonepat, used to go to his workplace in his car but now he is compelled to use a motorbike to commute,” said Ramphal Kaushik, a villager.

Indrawati, another villager, said there was also the danger of tripping for the women wearing veil and carrying heavy load on their heads. “We have demanded the repair of the streets but no one is paying any heed,” she claimed. Jaswant, Mohammadpur sarpanch, said the non-availability of labour due to the Covid crisis was the reason behind the slow pace of work.

The contractor, Kulbeer, however, expressed his inability to resume work because of shortage of labour and funds. “I started the work in January and the government was to make payment in March but the payment of around Rs 2 crore is lying stuck due to the pandemic.”

Akash Hooda, Junior Engineer (Public Health), said he had recently been transferred to the district, hence did not full information about the project.

Located 30 km from the district headquarters, Nindana village has a population of more than 15,000.

A rough ride

• The water pipeline-laying work in Nindana village has been held up for several months
• Villagers are forced to park their vehicles away from their houses
• The contractor has expressed inability to resume work due to shortage of labour and funds