Ropar, March 2: While the successive governments failed to provide proper connectivity to people in the state for long, Sikh saint Baba Labh Singh (Kila Anandgarh) at Anandpur Sahib has brought succour to lakhs of people by building seven bridges in Punjab and Haryana.
His efforts to provide easy connectivity to villages have earned him the sobriquet of “Pulanwala Baba”.While six bridges built by the Baba are already operational, the seventh such bridge, costing Rs 10 crore, will be opened for public at Shahpur Bela village, near Kiratpur Sahib, on Saturday.
The 600-ft-long and 18-ft-wide bridge will bring succour to 400 residents, who till now were using a boat provided by the Irrigation Department in the name of connectivity with the main road during rainy season.
The Sutlej branches out near the village, merging again on the other side, turning the village into an island during monsoon. “We send our children and expectant women to other villages during monsoon to avoid mishap in case of an emergency,” said Kulwinder Singh, a local resident.Sarpanch Davinder Singh, recalling the miseries of villagers, said seven years ago a local girl had died when she could not be taken to hospital in time due to flood in the river.
Gurdeep Kaur had suffered a heart attack. Trapped in the village, she died in the absence of medical attention. Three years ago, the only boat available in the village capsized, putting life of several children in danger who were going to school, said Bali Singh, a retired school headmaster.Facing these problems and government apathy, the villagers met the Baba, who readily agreed to build a bridge.
Now the bridge has been built by the Baba and the government must lay metalled road from the bridge till Bunga Sahib-Nurpur Bedi road, villagers demanded.
Foreman Kamaldev, who look after all the construction work starting from the design of the bridge, said two years ago a 670 ft bridge at nearby Burj village was opened for public on February 13, 2016, reducing the distance between several villages and Anandpur Sahib from 22 to a mere 7 km.
Earlier five such bridges — four on the Sutlej in the surrounding areas of Anandpur Sahib and one over the Ghaggar in Fatehabad district of Haryana — were built by him without any help from the state governments.Providing better connectivity, however, is not the only social work being done by the Baba, he has built buildings of 29 schools, including government schools.
He has organised marriages of over 500 girls from poor families. Shelter is provided to nearly 1,000 people, including patients and their attendants, at a gurdwara being run by Baba Labh Singh at the PGI, Chandigarh.
Source Tribune India
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