Miffed at dirty supply, residents ask councillor to drink water

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 27

While the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority has been planning to supply quality drinking water, residents of some of the areas in the city are getting contaminated water.

Residents of Phase V are up in arms after getting contaminated water for more than past 15 days. The miffed residents filled dirty water in bottles and other utensils and reached the residence of area councillor Arun Sharma, asking him to drink it.

“We have been getting dirty water for the past 15 days. We can’t even wash our hands with it," said Shiv Kumar, Suresh Kumar and Neelam, all residents of the area.

“Though they were not serious when they asked me to drink the contaminated water, the issue is really serious," said Arun Sharma.

"The consumption of such water may lead to the outbreak of a serious water-borne disease," said the councillor and the residents.

The residents claimed that many of them were forced to fetch water from a nearby temple or gurdwara. “One can easily gauge our plight in such a hot weather," said Gaytri Devi, an area resident.

A senior official of the Water Supply Department said the problem surfaced following digging work by a private mobile company for laying cables. “During the digging work, workers damaged a water supply pipeline due to which water was contaminated. The problem is being rectified," said the official.