Residents irked over choked sewerage

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 16

The overflowing sewage in front of the shop-cum-flat market behind the head office of the MC in Ranjit Avenue has been troubling the area residents.

People say restaurant owners in the market throw plastic and other waste in the sewage that causes  blockage. The residents have been facing the problem for years, but the authorities concerned have failed to solve it.

According to people, the problem was brought into the notice of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley when he was in the city to contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2014. The BJP leader had promised that a new sewerage line would be laid. “Even after losing the polls, he fulfilled his promise. The work was started in 2015,” residents said. 

Even after getting the new sewerage line, the problem surfaced once again within a few months. 

A dentist, Dr Abhisekh Sodhi, said, “Residents filed a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner following which an SDO visited the area today. He also called the field staff to the spot, but they couldn’t come up with a solution.”

Ranjit Avenue is considered a posh area and if the waste water is running in streets here, the MC can’t be expected to provide good service in the city, he said.

The lane where the problem exists is just behind the offices of the MC and Amritsar Improvement Trust. Officials of both the government bodies pass through it everyday but they have failed to notice the problem, allege people.

Amandeep Singh, SDO of the Amritsar Improvement Trust, who visited the area, said, “The sewerage line will be cleared tomorrow. We have deployed men today to get the work done.” 

He said the owners of the restaurants and hotels should use their dustbins and ensure that waste material is not thrown in the sewerage. “We have cleaned it several times in the past, but if traders continue to throw waste in sewage pipes, the problem will surface,” he said, adding that a report would be submitted to senior officials about it.