Bondli villagers to hold protest march today

Ludhiana: Villagers of Bondli and its neighbouring areas, who are forced to take a long road for travelling between their villages and the nearby towns, have decided to hold a protest on Chandigarh Road here on Monday.
The villagers have demanded construction of an overbridge on the under-construction national highway bypass at Samrala. They have already threatened to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections if their demand is not met.

Set to lose the main road against the construction work, the villagers have put up boards highlighting that they will vote only for the candidate who promises to solve their problem. Many people in villages like Sihala, Toderpur, Jhar Sahib, Kakrala and Behlolpur have shown resistance to the construction of the road (without the bridge) that will bypass Samrala town and increase the distance for them to reach Samrala and Machhiwara.

Jasmair Singh, husband of the Sarpanch of Bondli village, said since they will lose the main road to their village which will increase the travel time between their village and the neighbouring towns, they have decided to protest the ongoing construction. He said, “We don’t have a problem with the construction of the bypass, but the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) should provide us with an overbridge so that we don’t have to travel a longer distance to reach Samrala and Machhiwara.”

“Not only will the farmers, traders and students from our village will get affected by the construction of the bypass without a bridge, but it will also pose difficulty to the residents of many neighbouring villages. So, we all have come together and decided to protest till our demand for an overbridge is met,” said Singh.

Villagers have said they are ready for the long struggle.

“Tomorrow from 10am, we will start a protest march from our villages towards Samrala town and expecting over 400 villagers to join us,” said Neeraj Sihala, a social worker from Sihala village.

“A few days ago, a team had come to the spot and they told the people that their demands are genuine, but haven’t given us anything in writing,” said Neeraj adding that students without bicycles will have to walk a long distance to reach their schools in Samrala, while many farmers will have to travel more than double the distance to reach their farms, Moreover, the cost of transportation of goods for traders will also increase if the authorities don’t provide a bridge over the road, he said.

A villager said, “Normally, we have to travel a distance of about 1 km to reach Samrala, but after the construction of the bypass on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh national highway, it will increase the distance by three to four kilometres. Also, Machhiwara will get far by a few kilometres.”

“We have heard that they are providing entry and exit points near Chehlan village, another such point 3-km north of our village at Dayalpura. The other irony is that the bypass will divide our village, with many villagers having houses on one side of the under-construction road and farmland on the other side.” He added this was a major issue in many villages of the area, and they will decide on voting after proper response from the authorities.