PWD officials’ no-show at ‘Aap di Sarkar, Aap de Dwar’ camp irks Ludhiana residents

Panchayat members from Ludhiana’s Phullanwal were looking forward to an audience with PWD officials at the camp to discuss the area’s dilapidating road infra

Members of the Phullanwal panchayat decried the absence of officials from the public works department (PWD) at the public convenience camp held on Tuesday under the state government’s “Aap di Sarkar, Aap de Dwar” scheme.

Residents complained that the outer road in Ludhiana’s Phullanwal village has been in need of repairs since 2019. (HT Photo)

The outer road of the village hardly 100-m from where the camp was organised, panch Satta Sekhon, said, had been in need of repairs since early 2019. After the new panchayat was elected in December 2018, they had the road built right away, but it wore down in virtually no time.

As the problem has persisted for years, panchayat members were looking forward to an audience with PWD officials at the camp. Their absence, however, has dented their chances of discussing the problem with them in person.

Sub-divisional magistrate (Ludhiana West) Deepak Bhatia said when he reached the camp, panchayat members approached him regarding the issue and he directed the panchayat officer to take their complaint in writing and forward it to the department concerned.

The local member of legislative assembly (MLA) Jiwan Singh Sangowal, who also reached the camp, said he would have to look into the problem and have the officers concerned solve the problem.

The district administration on Tuesday had organised 45 camps across the district under the scheme, which was launched in December last year by Punjab chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal. Under this scheme, the state government aims to provide 44 services to the people at their doorstep.

Highlighting the poor state of the road, Sekhon said, “We have written to the concerned department and even the chief ministers regarding the issue, but there was no solution.”

“We crowdfunded and had around 10 dumpers of soil thrown at the major depressions to solve the problem, but that is only a temporary solution,” Sekhon added.

Kunal, who runs a mobile repair shop by the road, said, “Last week when it rained, the entire road was inundated in the absence of drains.”

While sewerage pipes were installed in the area, there is no proper slope for water to find the way into the sewer.