Lovleen Bains
Sahnewal, October 20
Even though dengue is spreading its tentacles at a rapid pace, residents are waiting for the Sahnewal Municipal Council to carry out fogging in the areas at the earliest. Interestingly, there has been practically no fogging done in some of the wards yet.
In Sahnewal, though fogging has somewhat been initiated, the Nagar Panchayat has been able to cover selective wards and streets, while others are still waiting for the machine to enter their locality.
A resident of Sahnewal complained, “Sewage and filth jammed in nullas provide the most congenial atmosphere for flies and mosquitoes to multiply. Fogging has been almost missing since the arrival of summer in spite of repeated remainders.”
“There has been no fogging even once in our ward and residents have been entirely left to suffer on their own. People are suffering but the council is least bothered. No health worker has arrived ever since to check mosquito-prone areas and launch any door-to-door campaign to assure hygienic and clean environment. It looks like Sahnewal town has been abandoned by the authorities and residents have been left to suffer,” rued a resident of ward number 2 of Sahnewal.
Kaar Seva chief of Gurdwara Reru Sahib of Sahnewal Baba Major Singh too affirmed that the fogging machine has not even visited the gurdwara even for once. “The situation is deplorable and residents are suffering from various diseases day in and day out,” he added.
Residents of surrounding villages too blame the panchayats for showing negligence as they rue that despite the fact that fresh dengue cases are being reported now and then, the authorities seem to have entirely abandoned their villages. On one hand, there are strict instructions to the panchayats, nagar panchayats and municipal committees to undertake fogging as a matter of routine, on the other hand, nominal fogging has been observed in the past few days in Sahnewal.
A villager of Gobindgarh rued, “The drainage system gets choked to such an extent that even a little downpour leaves the condition of houses and streets miserable. In such a situation, mosquitoes are sure to multiply and harm the residents.”
Executive Officer of Sahnewal Devinder Singh Grewal when contacted said, “We are undertaking fogging almost as a matter of routine. If streets of some wards are being left uncovered, I shall personally look into the matter and assure that fogging is conducted in each and every street of the wards.”