Sur Singh faces neglect despite rich past

Gurbaxpuri

Tarn Taran, April 23

Sur Singh, a village with rich past, is facing neglect from the state government. Residents of the village are known for their role in the Ghadar movement, Leftist struggle, besides their contribution to sports and literary fields.

Situated on the National Highway 354, the village has a population of about 18,000, making it a fit case for an upgrade from Gram Panchayat to Nagar Panchayat.

Sur Singh and Sur Singh Khurd have about 12,000 votes. However, the village lacks basic amenities like drinking water, proper roads and sewerage. Mukhtar Singh Boran Wala and other villagers said residents had been forced to live in unhygienic conditions for decades.

The village falls in the border area, which is known for shortage of drinking water. A drinking water facility was set up about 50 years back by installing a water tank and pump operator. However, the facility has been lying unused for the last over 10 years. Though there is a plan to replace the old drinking water facility with new one, its fate remains uncertain.

Dilbag Singh, sarpanch of Sur Singh Khurd, said the residents used to fetch drinking water from gurdwaras in respective localities. The village has 12 ‘pattis’ or localities and each ‘patti’ has over two gurdwaras with a borewell. The sarpanch said he was making efforts for providing drinking water to the villagers.

All roads in the village are in a dilapidated condition. Drains taking waste water from the houses continue to overflow as these have not been cleaned for decades. Apart from filling the air with stench and posing a health hazard, dirty water is also harming crops in the fields situated on the outskirts. Amrik Singh said as he was the worst-affected farmer as his crop had been damaged by dirty water. He said even the panchayat had expresses inability to resolve the problem as it was beyond their means.

Some roads in the villages have been broken deliberately to drain out the waste water, which was hindering the smooth flow of traffic.

The peripheral road (firni) of the village too is in a bad condition, making it difficult for the farmers to take their produce to grain market. There is no bus shed at the main road, causing inconvenience to the residents who have to wait for public transport.

Sarpanch Dilbag Singh said projects worth Rs 3 crore were in the pipeline. The project are under the Deputy Commissioner’s consideration and once approved these will certainly improve amenities in the village, he added.