Seven years on, Nadaun sewerage scheme yet to see the light of day

Dinesh Kanwar

Hamirpur, January 23

Seven years after the foundation stone of a sewerage scheme for the Nadaun town was laid, residents of the town are yet to get the facility. As of now, the Beas is being used as a dump for the waste of septic tanks.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had sanctioned the sewerage scheme to ensure pollution-free environment and to save the Beas from being polluted.

He had laid the foundation stone of the sewerage scheme, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 6.49 crore at Naduan on January 30, 2007, in the presence of then MLA Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.

The streets and roads were dug time and again for laying the sewer pipes, but even after seven years, the scheme could not be made operational. It was learnt that the Department of Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) had spent over Rs 4.75 crore in laying the underground sewer lines, but the work on the main septic tanks and the sewerage treatment plants was yet to be completed.

Sources said 200 m of sewerage line could not be laid due to the “non-cooperative attitude of some residents” who owned land in the route of the pipeline. It was also learnt that the Municipal Committee authorities had not bothered to take up the construction of the sewerage scheme.

The Chief Minister had laid the foundation stone of the Mini Secretariat for Nadaun close to that of the sewerage scheme. He had asked the officers of the IPH Department about the progress of the scheme and directed them to complete it at the earliest.

Executive Engineer of the IPH Department Vijay Dhatwalia said construction of the sewerage scheme was in progress and a length of 200 metre could not be made due to non-cooperation of some residents. The department was trying to make one phase of the scheme operational by March 2015. Work on a sewerage treatment plant was also nearing completion, he said.