Please stay away from Ludhiana - 14/07/2008
Ref.No: QRLD/2007-08:
S. Prakash Singh Badal Ji,
Hon. Chief Minister Punjab
CM Punjab Residence
House 45 Sector 2,
Chandigarh.
14 July 2008
Dear Mr. Badal,
Please stay away from Ludhiana
Notwithstanding that Ludhiana is the geographic centre of Punjab, your numerous and frequent visits to and through Ludhiana have become burdensome on the local population, not to mention the local administration.
You every visit brings large parts of the city to a halt. Parents and children, businessmen and labourers, all suffer mutely as they are prevented from their daily routine.
Ludhianvis have listened patiently to your promises of better roads, water supply, sanitation, power supply, airport, schools and hospitals, but you have tested our patience to the full.
Indeed your visits are now viewed by most as being a deliberate smoke screen to hide the failings of your government.
Maybe you have failed to observe from the perch of your government helicopter that a small amount of rain is sufficient to clog the city’s drain, block the roads and bring Ludhiana almost to a complete standstill.
Maybe you have missed the tonnes of rotting garbage accumulated all over town.
Maybe you have failed to note that for many poor souls of this city the roadside is the only viable latrine.
Maybe you have failed to notice that this once vibrant, throbbing city is a pale shadow of its former self.
It was Heinrich Himler of Hitler’s Gestapo who stated that a lie oft repeated is eventually accepted as the truth. Fortunately, Ludhianvis have seen through your gloss.
You talk of a metro for Ludhiana, and most people scratch their heads as to who exactly will use this. Some even suspect that the whole metro exercise is an attempt at an elaborate urban land grab to benefit vested interests.
In reality, Ludhiana today is more like the dark ages where, except for the fortunate few, almost everyone is mentally scarred by the grossly deficient municipal provision provided by your government.
To compound matters your flock of ministers frequently also turn up in Ludhiana in the mistaken belief that it is still the golden political honey-pot of old.
Maybe the local administration will work a little better is you were not to visit Ludhiana so frequently. We do not need fictional promises. We need commitments which can be fulfilled within 12 months.
In the name of god Stay Away and leave us to suffer without the complications caused by your presence in the city.
Kind regards,
Yours sincerely