Paonta-Shillai NH expansion: Youth's song 'ye jo road hai narak dikhaega' strikes a chord

The perils of widening the Paonta Sahib-Shillai highway found a poignant expression in a Hindi song in which popular pahari singer and Natti star Ajay Chauhan has pointed its inadequacies.

“Route hai purane wala Paonta to Shillai, road banae bari companiya aae, socha tha ye road pura shisha ban jaega par ye jo road hai narak dikhaega” — goes the 5.35-minute-long  song which is being passionately shared not just in the district but also elsewhere in the state ever since it was released yesterday at Paonta Sahib.

Chauhan who is a native of Shilla village near Kafota was inspired by the colossal environmental degradation caused by the project, inspiring him both to script and lend voice to the melodious song.

At a time when the working of the National Highways Authority of India was also under the scanner after the collapse of buildings at Shimla owing to reckless excavation, this song has caught the attention of residents who have been suffering not just loss of arable land but also a safe road to travel.

 Unsparing in his expression, the young singer holds the contractors, politicians as well as the authorities accountable for failing to address the woes of the locals like reckless dumping of muck, sloppy retaining structures which could crumble under the weight of the concrete structure, besides lack of adherence to safety norms.

He questions who will highlight the issue of contractors erring on various fronts before the courtiers of power and rectify the wrongs, while affirming that travelling on the road was a tormenting experience.

Depicting various pitfalls and the incomplete road which was being refurbished, the visuals portray various inadequacies which have been overlooked by the authorities.  

Whether it meant drying of natural water sources or shoddy work undertaken in the rains, the singer has portrayed each and every aspect affecting the common man, including unholy blasting of fragile hills.

Distressed at the plight of the road after inferior work, the video amply highlights the lack of concern to the environment as well as human lives who are the ultimate users of the road while equating its journey to hell.

An environmentalist, Naathu Ram Chauhan, who has petitioned the issue before the National Green Tribunal inspired the young artist to compose this video as he has been pursuing the cause for the last four years.