Where there’s a will, there’s a road

Ludhiana: After their repeated pleas fell on deaf ears, residents have started constructing a road to Deg Sar Sahib Gurdwara in Katani Kalan.

They said they took the work upon themselves after their years-long wait bore no results. They have filled all the deep potholes and will lay bitumen from Friday.

The residents of nearby villages said the road has not been constructed since 2008 and from over five years they have been demanding its reconstruction.

They said it is only a two-km-long stretch to the gurdwara, which is visited every month by lakhs of devotees who come from far and wide. For the construction of the road, the public works department had prepared estimates of Rs 1.72 crore in November 2020. But till date, they have not started the work.

Manpreet Singh Dhami from SBS Kartar Singh Memorial Youth Club, Katani Kalan, said, “We knocked on all the doors in the past four-and-a-half years to get this road reconstructed, met MLAs, MP and officials of various departments, but to no avail. We had protested at Ludhiana-Chandigarh Road on December 5 to make ourselves heard, but nobody listened to us. Therefore, the devotees collected money and started the road work. On Friday, bitumen work will be done on the stretch.”

Another member of the club Jagjit Singh said, “This stretch connects Southern Bypass with Ludhiana-Chandigarh Road and leads to Deg Sar Sahib Gurdwara. Usually in a day, too many vehicles pass through it. With the authorities and the government failing to provide basic amenities, people have to spend from their own pockets. Devotees have come forward and joined hands to build this road.”