Solan village awaits repair of road damaged last year
More than two and a half years after funds were sanctioned for the Sherlaghat-Harda Mehta link road, villagers continue to battle difficulties as a sizable part of the road was damaged in heavy monsoon last year.
Notwithstanding tall claims of the state government of having provided relief to the villagers suffering damage in the last monsoon, the residents of this village are disgruntled at the non-execution of this key work. A ‘kutcha’ road laid about a decade ago linked this village to the rest of the area, it has not been metalled till now.
“A sum of Rs 2 lakh was sanctioned for Sherlaghat-Harda Mehta link road falling in gram panchayat Dhakriana in April 2022 for laying paver tiles but despite the lapse of two and a half years, no work was executed,” said Anil, a villager who has been persistently demanding construction of a concrete road. “It is a sad state of affairs that funds received for construction of the road have been withdrawn now and we have no funds to execute the work,” rued Anil.
“Last monsoon caused colossal damage to the village where arable land was eroded and the lone ‘kutcha’ link road was closed about 100 metres beyond the village. We have to manually lift the sick for a distance of at least 100 mt before we can reach a motorable road,” added Anil.
In the absence of any help from the administration, the villagers had themselves engaged earth excavation machines to clear the debris that had fallen on the road in the last monsoon. The villagers who had lost their arable land as well as houses in the last monsoon were paid a pittance as compensation even as a lucrative relief package was announced by the state government in October 2023. As per the relief package, a sum of Rs 7 lakh was supposed to be given for a totally damaged house and Rs 1 lakh for a partially damaged dwelling. A sum of Rs 1.3 lakh was to be given from the disaster relief funds of the state and Centre, while another installment of Rs 3 lakh was also to be granted to the affected families.
Madan Lal Mehta of Serla village said his family lost a sizeable stretch of arable land, but got a meagre compensation of Rs 3,200. Serla village in the Goyla gram panchayat was among 12 severally affected gram panchayats of the Doon Assembly segment, where 150 houses were damaged and considerable arable land was eroded.
A mminimum compensation at the rate of Rs 500 per bigha has been given to various shareholders for the loss of arable land, rued the villagers.
