Officials of the Punjab State Mandi Board said the project will be executed in three phases. The first phase involves construction of a 37.93-km road from Gidderpindi to Shahkot at an estimated cost of Rs 61.82 crore and is expected to benefit thousands of residents across more than 15 villages.

The second phase will cover 25.10 km, while the third phase will add another 32-km paved stretch along the embankment.

The Dhussi embankments, built during the 1950s and 1960s to protect villages from floods, have never had a permanent road despite serving as a critical flood-control structure for decades. Residents of the region have experienced around 10 major and minor floods over the past 75 years and had repeatedly demanded better infrastructure and stronger flood-management measures.

Seechewal said he had pursued the project with successive governments and had written several times to Chief Minister Mann over the past four years seeking construction of a road on the embankment. He said the state government took up the proposal after a meeting chaired by then cabinet minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer at Punjab Bhawan on June 12, 2023. During the meeting, he also pressed for the removal of accumulated soil beneath the Gidderpindi railway bridge.

Former Gatta Mundi Kasu sarpanch Sukhwinder Singh said residents had dreamt of such a road for decades, but successive governments failed to address the issue. He credited Seechewal for pursuing the project and surveying the entire stretch between Gidderpindi and Phillaur before helping prepare a proposal through the Punjab State Mandi Board.

Residents also recalled Seechewal’s involvement during flood emergencies. Gurnam Singh of Meharajwala and Major Singh of Jania village said he had participated in relief and rehabilitation operations during every major flood in the region since 2008.

Major Singh said that after a breach in the Dhussi embankment near his house in 2019, Seechewal supervised repair work, restoration of damaged farmland, and filling of pits created by floodwaters. “It was after witnessing the devastation caused by floods that he started planning for a permanent road on the embankment,” he said.

Among those present at the foundation stone-laying ceremony were Sant Pragat Nath of Rahimpur, Punjab Food Commission Chairman Bal Mukand Sharma, Constituency In-charge Parminder Singh Pandori, Deputy Commissioner Varjeet Walia, SSP Harvinder Singh Virk, SDM Lal Vishwas, Surjit Singh Shanti and other local residents.

The project is expected to improve access to villages along the Sutlej river belt while strengthening the region’s flood management infrastructure.