Rajya Sabha Member and environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal has expressed serious concerns about the faulty design of culverts being constructed by the National Highway Authority for water drainage on national highways. He raised the issue by writing a letter to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and demanded that the National Highway Authority officials be held accountable for the situation.
Sant Seechewal today pulls up the officials of the National Highway Authority who have constructed a culvert on NH 44 with a level four feet higher than the drainage level. He pointed out that this design flaw is causing significant inconvenience to local residents. This morning, National Highway Authority officials were called to the Amritsar-Jalandhar national route, where the Kala Sanghiya Drain passes underneath.
Due to the culvert being elevated four feet above the drain’s level, water enters the homes of residents situated behind the culvert. Sant Seechewal reprimanded the site director from the NH Authority, stating that it is shameful for such mistakes to occur despite having skilled engineers.
He explained that during the monsoon season, water enters people’s homes due to the improper design of the culvert. He emphasized that the true purpose of development work is to provide comfort to the people, not to cause them trouble.
Sant Seechewal instructed the concerned officials to find a prompt solution to this issue. Officials from the Drainage Department of Punjab, who were present at the site, informed Sant Seechewal that the department had written five letters to the National Highway Authority’s project director since September 2024, but no response had been received.
The counselor of Ward No. 1, who was present at the site, also told Sant Seechewal that the National Highway Authority was not listening to their concerns. She mentioned that despite repeated requests to lower the culvert’s level by four feet on NH 44, the NH Authority officials had not responded directly to them.
She called for immediate resolution of this matter.
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