A road through a mountain which would cut the distance from Aleeka and Panihari villages to Sirsa by 30 kms was the need of the hour. This Haryana Sirsa bridge would serve as a lifeline for 1.25 lakh villagers in the area who would get the access to the outside world. Their demands to the local government fell on deaf ears as red tapeism and other delays fell in the path of speedy construction.
Local Haryana villagers of 9 villages from Sirsa district came forward and collected an amount of INR 1 crore. They, with the help of an engineer from Hanumangarh went ahead with the construction of a 250 foot long, 14 foot wide bridge spanning villages of Aleeka and Panihari and connecting them to Sirsa.
Work on this bridge commenced in April last year and is close to completion. A 25 member committee is overseeing this construction and a local holy man, Mahant Brahm Dass, has been called upon to declare the bridge open. Not surprising is that the villagers have decided to ignore every politician and bureaucrat in the region, leaving them out of the inaugural ceremony.
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While a poor labourer contributed INR 500 and a widow parted with INR 1,000 out of her pension to the building of this bridge, it was only Sirsa MP Charanjit Singh Rori and former minister Gopal Kanda who offered INR 1 lakh and INR 5.51 lakhs each out of their personal funds towards the building of this bridge.
Charanjeet Singh Rori – One of the two ministers who helped monetarily.No other minister came forward to help build the bridge; and hence none of them are going to be invited for the inauguration ceremony of this Haryana Sirsa bridge.
via TimesofIndia.com
