Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Department has decided to go for all round development of the state’s villages on the pattern of villages Haripur and Seechewal in Jalandhar.
The Minister in-charge Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on Sunday directed the senior officers of the Department to tour both the villages and grasp very minutely every aspect of their developmental model so as to implement it in other villages also.
“As per the Minister’s directions, the Departmental Officers and the Panchayati Raj Engineers have prepared a proposal based on the developmental model of the villages after visiting them. The execution process has been set in motion after carefully examining all the finer points,” said the state Financial Commissioner (Rural Development and Panchayat Department) Anurag Verma.
He said that all the Additional Deputy Commissioners (Development), Deputy Directors, DDPOs and Executive Engineers of the Department have been instructed to visit both these villages.
Verma said that Haripur village having a population of 2,000 and 450 households is being given a facelift with the assistance of Punjab Government and village people by laying sewerage and installing interlocking paver blocks of cement concrete in the streets.
Punjab Government has given a grant of Rs 11 lakh for the concretization of the streets and the NRI diaspora has contributed Rs 1.29 crore for the sprucing up of the infrastructure in the village.
Not only this, but the manholes have also been constructed on the 100 feet distance in the sewerage line being laid out in the village with RCC pipes thus accruing an expenditure of Rs 60 lakh.
To prevent sewerage from clogging, polluted water from households before being put in the sewerage, is made to pass through the septic tank and inspection chamber in order to ensure that no solid waste comes into the ‘houdi’ constructed outside.
Verma said that a pathway for taking stroll has also been constructed for the people by having paver blocks installed outside these ponds which also has trees at every step.
He also said that paver blocks are being installed in one lakh square feet area of the village which would cost approximately Rs 52 lakh with Rs 40 lakh already spent. The village people have bought a tractor-trolley in which the garbage of all the households is accumulated and disposed off at the common land outside the village.
Similarly, the development oriented works are being carried out with élan by Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal and the villagers of Seechewal village. The water is cleaned and treated with the usage of the natural resources which is well supplemented by the excellent sewerage system.
Verma added that the Minister had himself visited both these villages and was impressed by the developmental works done. “Afterwards, the Minister directed all the departmental officers to study the development model of these villages to replicate it in other villages also,” he said, while also exhorting all the village panchayats to visit these villages and undertake development centric projects in their respective villages on the same pattern.