Villagers flay poor waste water disposal facility

Mahesh Sharma

Raikot, July 30

Residents of Hissowal village under Sudhar Development Block of the Ludhiana district have sought intervention of the district administration for provision of waste water disposal facility in the locality.

Residents alleged that the sewerage treatment disposal tank constructed in the village in violation of extant instructions of the government had started leaking due to damage to its wall. They have demanded resumption of the old sewage treatment pond that was constructed 14 years ago.

The village panchayat, led by Sarpanch Jaspreet Singh, maintained that the civic body had only provided land for construction of sewerage tanks and all decisions about construction and repair were being taken by the Panchayati Raj Department officials.

Villagers, led by retired SDO Harmel Singh Saroya, lamented that the administration had not bothered to take remedial actions on their repeated complaints about the looming threat due to inadequate functioning of the sewerage system. “While extant instructions ban construction of sewerage treatment plant within 1 km of habitation, the department violated the instruction by constructing the tank in front of village school and along the village dharamsala,” Saroya rued. He alleged that the material used in constructing the tank was of poor quality, resulting in leakage of untreated water and damage to its walls.

He regretted that all complaints made to the Sudhar Block Development Panchayat Office and the office of the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner had fallen on deaf ears. The retired SDO urged the higher authorities to conduct an inquiry into the sequence of events leading to the present state of affairs regarding mismanagement of waste water at the village.