Residents seek redress of sewage, polluted water woes ahead of poll

Tribune News Service

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, April 6

In certain areas of Aatma Singh Nagar and nearby Shanti Nagar in Giaspura, inhabitants battle problems such as overflowing sewers, contaminated water supply and air pollution, all of which remain pressing concerns, especially as the Lok Sabha elections approach. They attribute the persisting problems to the municipal corporation’s failure to address them, despite several requests, leaving residents to grapple with the problems.

CK Verma of Aatma Singh Nagar said sewage had been overflowing outside his residence for the past few months, yet no concrete action had been taken. People, including children, had to pass through the sewage in the street located on the backside of Kamal Karyana store. Moreover, the water supplied to their houses by the civic body had a foul smell. “As the Lok Sabha elections approach, overflowing sewage and contaminated water supply are among the major concerns that must be addressed at the earliest,” he said.

Some people also claimed that the existing state of affairs had forced them to buy filtered water from a nearby store in the area. Abhishek and Devanand Dubey from the locality expressed similar problems, adding, these concerns must be addressed at the earliest. They also highlighted the air pollution caused by factories situated in the area, emphasising that the PPCB must pay attention to the rising air pollution here. Notably, these localities are at a walking distance from the site of the Giaspura gas tragedy.

In one of the streets of Shanti Nagar where sewage had accumulated, MC workers were seen cleaning the manholes using sticks. However, in another street, a sewer manhole was overflowing with no one paying any attention to it. Deepak from Shanti Nagar said: “We are forced to consume contaminated water and that is a big problem. The water supplied usually appears yellowish in colour initially but after some minutes it appears clean. Potable drinking water must be provided to us. The authorities must take requisite measures in this regard.” Apart from this, some sewer manholes are uneven, posing a risk of mishaps. The covers of these manholes are below the surface of the road making it uneven and prone to accidents.

SDO Jagroop Singh said they had not received any complaints regarding overflowing sewers or contaminated water supply in the area. He said sewer lines were being cleaned with a super suction machine and the municipal corporation was going to install a new water supply line there after the cleaning of the sewer lines.

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