Waterlogged road gives tough time to kanwariyas

Mukesh Tandon

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Panipat, July 17

A waterlogged stretch of the Panipat-Haridwar highway near Ugrakheri village poses threat to the lives of commuters as well as kanwariyas. Travelling on this road is getting increasingly dangerous for the commuters due to its poor condition.

The 500-m-long patch near Ugrakheri village is damaged and deep potholes are filled with muddy water. The Panipat-Haridwar highway connects the textile city to two states, including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, yet it has been in poor condition for a long time. Hundreds of people from adjoining villages of Kairana and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh are using the main road for their daily life as a large number of people are working in the textile industries here.

Besides, the kanwar yatra has started after a gap of two years of the Covid pandemic and hundreds of kanwariyas will use this main road to go to their destinations in the next two weeks. Many kanwariyas of Panipat, Assandh, Jind and Safidon are using this road to go to their destination. The damaged condition of the road is enough to raise a question over officials’ apathy.

Advocate Jugwinder Malik of Ugrakheri said it was very unfortunate that all leaders — two MPs, two MLAs, Mayor and councillors — belonged to the BJP in Panipat and the saffron party was ruling in UP as well as in Haryana and at the Centre, yet, the kanwariyas would have to travel on this muddy and damaged road. It is the duty of the MC officials and district administration to provide safe and clean passage to the kanwariyas, but they have failed to even fill up the potholes on this stretch, he said.

Residents, marble market shopkeepers and even the ruling party leaders have raised the issue of the deplorable condition of the road before the MP, MLAs, Mayor, officials of MC and the district administration several times in the past four years, but the condition of this patch remains unchanged.

The district administration had to change the route of Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya during his visit to the historical war memorial at Kala Amb due to the pathetic condition of the road.

SK Mishra, Project Director, NHAI, said the work on the Panipat-Shamli highway was underway and the timeline for the project was up to October this year. “Over 80 per cent work has been completed and we are hoping that the rest of the work will be completed by the end of August”, he added. “There is a drainage problem at two major points in Panipat near Ugrakheri and in Sanoli. As there are no drains adjoining the road and we have written about it to the state several times. The road will be handed over to the state government soon”, Mishra maintained.

MLA, Dy Commissioner visit site

After the matter was highlighted, MLA Pramod Vij, Sushil Kumar Sarwan, DC, Panipat, visited Sanoli road on Sunday. Besides, AAP leader Rakesh Chugh along with some social activists also visited the spot. Chugh warned officials that if Sanoli road was not repaired by Tuesday, the social organisations in the city would collect money to correct it to provide safe and clean passage to the kanwariyas.