Rain means trouble for residents

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 24

A little rain and residents of Guru Amar Das Avenue on Airport Road are again forced to walk through muddy streets to reach their homes. Every time it has rained in the past year and a half, the residents had to face a similar problem. The work on sewerage lines in the area was started around one and a half years ago. The sewerage work was stopped, as a video showing poor quality work in underground chambers had gone viral. Following the release of the video, three officials of the authority concerned were suspended.

Later the contract was given to another agency. However, there has been a delay at each level of the construction, as a few of the ground sewerage chambers are still lying uncovered.

The anguish of the residents has reached such a level that a delegation of female residents apprised the Lok Sabha member Gurjit Singh Aujla of the situation after meeting him today who assured them to take up the matter with the officials concerned.

The residents complained of not paving the street after completion of the work, it is left kutcha. A retired government official from lane number three of the locality, Satnam Singh, said, “The people are afraid of going out of their houses. Walking or using two-wheelers is out of the question, as the streets are slippery.” He said last year a person had broken his ankle, as he fell in the street.

The residents stated they took up the problem with officials whenever they were in the area, but it had not helped so far. They complained that they were forced to live in unhygienic conditions, as the rain water stagnated in the streets. “This is the malaria season and these muddy pools could become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. We demand that the street is paved at the earliest, as we have already suffered much,” said another resident, Hardeep Singh Hundal.

The slow pace of work coupled with neglect is troubling residents in many areas of the city in which streets are inundated with water even after scanty showers. While crores of rupees have been spent to repave concrete, paved streets with interlocking tiles during the past two years of the previous government, the residents of these areas have been waiting for help.