Even as a population of nearly 30,000 and four panchayats make Varpal one of the biggest villages in the Attari assembly constituency, its residents grapple with basic civic amenities.
There is no sewerage, park, open gymn and sufficient street-lights in this village.
These are four panchayats here — Varpal Kalan, Varpal Khurd, Varpal Gill and Varpal Baba Fauja Singh.
A resident of the village, Surinderpal Singh, said it was painful to say that even seven decades after the country gained Independence, the village had not got any sewage connectivity. In this scenario, the entire village continues to have an open drainage system, which is further connected to ponds called “chappar”. Centuries-old open drains, carrying domestic waste, exist here.
There is always the danger of water-borne diseases and at times, stench emanates from waste and refuse gathered inside and around ponds.
Another major demand of the residents of the village is of underground water tube-wells to provide piped water supply for drinking. At present, they are getting piped water supply from two overground water receptacles, which are very old, with the system requiring to be modernised.
Amarpreet Kaur, a mother of two, said there was neither any park nor open gym in the village. She said families need parks for recreation. Successive governments did not take note of the demands of the residents. She lamented that the even street-lights were insufficient in the village.
Sardool Singh, sarpanch of Varpal Kalan village, said the demands for sewerage and water supply were put up before the government and they were waiting for a positive response. He said all village ponds had recently been cleaned.
