Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh): In one of its kind protests, locals from Mehnot locality in Neemuch town are set to observe “Barsi” ceremony (Shradh) to mark the first anniversary of Bhoomi Pujan for road construction work in the locality.
Locals have already distributed invitation cards of the Barsi ceremony, a ritual that is commonly observed among Hindus a year after a death in the remembrance of the departed soul. The residents of the locality have been waiting for the construction of the main road of the locality ever since the bhoomi pujan was done a long time ago.
The unique protest will be observed on Sunday to draw the attention of the competent authorities who have been pursued for a year now to get the road construction going.
Locals informed that for years, the residents of Mehnot Nagar struggled for the approval of the main road of Mehnot Nagar. As soon as the road was approved, about a year ago, on March 12, 2021, a bhoomi pujan ceremony was performed in the presence of Neemuch MLA Dilip Singh Parihar, former BJP district president Hemant Harit and former corporator Dinesh Yadav and other public representatives.
The work did not start even after nine months of the bhoomi pujan. The road was excavated in December last year after several applications and requests to the officers. After several days, the ballast was poured by the contractor on this road. After more than two months, this work is lying incomplete. This incomplete work is causing a lot of inconvenience to the residents.
Responsible engineers and officers have given assurance many times that the work would start in a day or two and similar promises have been made by the contractor. Failing to get their problems resolved, locals decided to hold a two-day demonstration to make the responsible aware of their pain and the bhoomi pujan is a part of this demonstration.
On the first day of the protest on Saturday, bhajan-kirtan was performed in Mehnot Nagar from 8 pm. To speed up the road construction, 'Gati Pujan' will be done on the anniversary day from 11 am on March 13. On this day at 12:30, there will be a program of Barsi.
Cards were distributed to the public representatives, municipal officers and district administration officials anticipating this will draw their attention to the issue, locals said.
