Road made by the villagers at Morni Block damaged. (Photo: Jaipal Singh)With no actions following the many verbal assurances of the authorities with regard to the construction of a link road between Dapana village and main Panchkula-Morni road, the residents of the remote village had themselves picked up tools and constructed a temporary dirt trek or kutcha road.
However, the dirt trek gets damaged after each incident of heavy rain, forcing the rural folks to adopt a tough hilly trail for accessing the main link road.
As the road is not motorable, villagers say in times of medical emergency, they have to rush the ailing person on a charpai on their shoulders to reach the main link road.
A 70-year-old Ram Singh, who had lost one of his sons, 26-year-old Mahipal, reportedly due to not being able to access medical treatment at the right time, said, “I have been witness to the visits of so many politicians at my village, especially during the elections. Everytime, there is assurance of a pakka or concrete road.”
He added, “Now we have stopped complaining. We pooled money and purchased the tools, arranged a few animals for ferrying stones and made a temporary road. One-and-a-half year back, my younger son, Mahipal, fell ill. By the time we rushed him to the link road, carrying him on a charpai on our shoulders, it was too late. At Panchkula Sector 6 hospital, my son was declared brought dead.”
Dapana resident, Ashok Kumar, one of the five graduates in the village, said, “The village is situated deep in the valley at a distance of around 2 km from the link road. The makeshift road is not motorable. During rains, water from high slopes comes down and damages it. Hence, we can not use two-wheelers on this stretch. The lengthy kutcha road was made when we realized our politicians including village sarpanch, MLA and bureaucrats have no solution for our woes.”
Ashok Kumar is a contractual employee with CBSE at Sector 4 in Panchkula.
MLA Pardeep Chaudhary from Kalka constituency, which encompasses Morni hills region, said, “The problem is in my knowledge. I have been raised this concern with the concerned departments, including PWD, several times, but in vain. Personally, I asked a contractor to build a motorable katcha rasta linking the village and the main road. Apart from Dapana, there are countless other villages, which are also not well-linked with the main roads. Authorities are concentrating only on the national and state highway. Nobody is serious about the link roads connecting villages and main road in this remote region.” MLA Chaudhary was elected from Congress party from Kalka constituency.
Village resident, Manjeet Singh said, “Authorities are focusing on the betterment of only link road, keeping in mind the conveniences of tourists and hoteliers. No attention is being paid towards the concern of the villagers.”
Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja was not available for comments. He did not respond to the repeated calls made to him.
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