Ludhiana: It is not a matter of pride that even as the 80th birth anniversary of Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon was celebrated with great fanfare Thursday, the road named after him, which connects Ludhiana to his native village, lies in a shambles. This surely doesn’t befit the celebration to honour his bravery. Residents of his village, Issewal, lamented that they have long been suffering because of the poor condition of the road leading to the birthplace of the great martyr and sought that the govt undertake its repair work at the earliest.Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military decoration during war time, in recognition of his lone defence of Srinagar Air Base against a Pakistan Air Force air raid during the India-Pakistan war of 1971. He is the only member of the Indian Air Force to be honoured with the PVC.TOI travelled from Ludhiana to Issewal on the road named after him along the Sidhwan canal and found most stretches along its six kilometre length dotted with potholes. It is particularly bad near Birmi village and Issewal.Daljit Singh, cousin of the flying officer, said the issue of the poor condition of the road, which connects to Mullanpur Hambran road, was raised at various levels, but nothing has been done so far. “New colonies are coming up in the area, and so the traffic on the road has increased. The road leads to the native village of the great martyr, so it should be kept in a proper condition and be re-carpeted,” Daljit, who retired from the telecom department, said.Another villager, Major Singh, said though the condition of roads in the village has improved, the one connecting Ludhiana to their village is in dire need of repair. He called upon the govt to urgently do something in this regard. Yet another villager said it doesn’t look like the road leads to the native village of the only officer of the Indian Air Force who received the country’s highest wartime gallantry award. He said the state govt is responsible for the upkeep of the road and should get its repair work done without further delay.Deepinder Singh Chahal (Atley Chahal), a builder whose office lies on the road, said the govt and builders need to work together and get it repaired. It is not just the residents of the area, but also those who have offices along the road who face inconvenience because of it.Meanwhile, senior Congress Leader Captain Sandeep Sandhu, who is the Halqa Dakha constituency incharge of the party, said he has raised the issue multiple times, but to no avail. He added that as the country celebrates the birth anniversary of the great martyr, the road to his native village should have been in a better condition. MLA Dakha Manpreet Singh Ayali said the road was a kuchha road, but during the SAD govt, it was widened under PMGSY. It was named Sardar Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon Marg. The MLA said they had asked the state govt to repair the road, but they were told that there were no funds. A PWD official said they will soon start the repair work.
